No one will confuse the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings with NBA
powers, but matchups between the Pacific Division rivals tend to be competitive
and exciting.

The Warriors, who could again be without Stephen Curry, visit the Kings on
Tuesday night at Power Balance Pavilion, where two of their last three meetings
have gone to overtime.

Golden State (17-21) and Sacramento (14-27) own two of the Western
Conference’s worst records along with a recent history of playing some
particularly tight contests.

The Warriors and Kings have split their six games since the start of last
season, with Sacramento outscoring Golden State 658-657. Three of these
contests, including the last meeting – Sacramento’s 114-106 home win Feb. 4 -
have gone to overtime.

Golden State’s Klay Thompson sent the game to OT with a 3-pointer with nine
seconds left, but the Kings reeled off nine straight points to begin the extra
session. Sacramento’s Marcus Thornton finished with 28 points, Tyreke Evans had
26 and nine assists and DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and a career-high 20
rebounds.

Four days earlier at Oracle Arena, the Warriors held on to beat the Kings
93-90 after allowing Sacramento to trim a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to
one with three seconds remaining. Brandon Rush, who had a season-high 20 points,
then hit two free throws before Evans missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Thornton, who leads the Kings in scoring at 18.5 points per game, didn’t
play because of a left thigh bruise, and neither Curry nor Monta Ellis were much
of a factor. Ellis, who averages a team-best 21.9 points, finished with 12 on
5-of-17 shooting, while Curry missed 6 of 7 shots and scored three.

It’s possible the Warriors could be without Curry this time after he left
Sunday’s 97-93 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Curry, who averages 14.7
points, started after spraining his right ankle the night before in a win over
Dallas, but played just 10 scoreless minutes.

“I just felt it wasn’t right to throw him out there,” coach Mark Jackson
said.

Curry has been plagued by ankle problems most of the season, and it’s
uncertain if Jackson will give him more time off to recover. The Warriors are
4-8 without him.

Dorell Wright helped pick up some of the scoring slack in Curry’s absence
Sunday, finishing with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Ellis added 21 points and
11 assists while David Lee had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Warriors have won three of four, averaging 109.3 points on 53.3 percent
shooting – 52.4 from 3-point range – in the victories.

“We just need to take it one game at a time,” Ellis said. “We need to
continue doing what we have been doing the last couple of games, which is
sharing the ball, getting defensive stops, and getting out and running.”

The Kings appeared to be turning the corner after opening a franchise-record
nine-game homestand with victories over New Orleans and Dallas. Two days after
beating the defending champs by 13 points, however, they suffered a 106-99 loss
to Atlanta on Sunday. Sacramento was outrebounded 45-36 and allowed the Hawks to
shoot 51.2 percent.

“That’s kind of what immature teams do,” rookie guard Isaiah Thomas said.
“The energy wasn’t there like it was because we were playing the world
champions. We have to get better and get up for every day.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif.
– Josh Smith scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half for the Atlanta Hawks, who defeated the Sacramento Kings for the eighth straight time with a 106-99 victory Sunday night.

Atlanta took the lead for good with a strong third quarter and never trailed again in avoiding a third straight loss. It’s the only meeting between the teams this season.

DeMarcus Cousins fouled out late in the game but not before tying a season high with 28 and adding 12 rebounds for the Kings, who had their modest two-game winning streak snapped. John Salmons had 14 points, while both Marcus Thornton and Jimmer Fredette had 12.

Joe Johnson scored 21 points and Jeff Teague had 16 points and seven assists for the Hawks. Kirk Hinrich and Marvin Williams both had 12 points and Zaza Pachulia added 10 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by 12 with just over five minutes to play, the Kings ran off seven straight points, pulling to within 94-89 on a 3 by Thornton. But several costly turnovers and several missed 3s in the final two minutes prevented the Kings from getting any closer than five points.

The Hawks are on a season-high six-game road trip that began with a win over Indiana. However, Atlanta suffered a three-point loss in Miami and fell to Detroit 86-85 on Friday night. The road trip concludes with consecutive games, Tuesday against Denver and Wednesday vs. the Los Angeles Clippers.

Smith’s shooting ignited the Hawks in the third quarter when they outscored the Kings 29-22 in taking an 80-74 lead into the fourth. Smith scored 12 points, while both Johnson and Teague had seven. Cousins had nine points for Sacramento.

In the fourth quarter, it was Smith again hitting open shots. He followed a 3-pointer from Hinrich with a pair of jumpers and a free throw, putting the Hawks in front 88-76 with just over nine minutes left.

Smith, who is averaging just over 25 points in six March games, got hot to start the third quarter, making his first six shots, including five from the perimeter. But the Kings still kept pace with the Hawks for much of the quarter, thanks to the scoring of Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, who made consecutive 3-pointers after going scoreless in the first half.

The Hawks had no answer for Cousins in the opening half when the Kings led 52-51. He scored from inside and out in getting 18 points. Pachulia had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks.

Notes: Fredette hit a long 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first quarter to give Sacramento a 24-23 lead. … Johnson, who returned to the lineup Friday after missing four straight games with tendinitis in his left knee, missed all three first-quarter shots and didn’t score. … Atlanta coach Larry Drew was a member of the Kings in 1985-86, the franchise’s first year in Sacramento. … Kings reserve forward J.J. Hickson missed his fifth straight game with a hip pointer.