Since Monday, the Kings took a 2-0 series lead over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. De’Aaron Fox was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year. Coach Mike Brown earned the league’s 2022-23 Coach of the Year award.
However, all that is being discussed is the incident between Domantas Sabonis and Draymond Green.
“I feel bad because I don’t want to take away from my teammates [or] the organization,” a sentimental Sabonis said after Kings shootaround on Thursday, six hours before Game 3 tip-off at Chase Center. “Coach just won Coach of the Year, Fox won Clutch Player of the Year, everyone’s been amazing.
“We just want to come out there, we know it’s going to be a hostile environment, they’re the defending champs in their building, it’s going to be the toughest game of the series and we have to be mentally prepared for that.”
Sacramento has turned things around this season, reaching new milestones and breaking records along the way.
And in its first postseason appearance since 2006, the storylines are being overwritten by one incident.
Golden State Warriors
In the fourth quarter of Game 2 at Golden 1 Center, Sabonis and Green got into a mix-up under the basket and Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg, resulting in Green stomping on Sabonis’ chest.
Green initially was assessed a technical foul, but upon replay review, the officials changed the call to a Flagrant 2 and ejected him. Sabonis was given a technical foul for his part in the incident. The following night, the league announced Green would be suspended for Game 3.
Since then, the talk has been about Green and Sabonis. Not about the game, not about the series, not about the fact that Sacramento’s 2-0 series lead has thus far proven all the naysayers wrong.
Instead, NBA Twitter and the national media are making headlines out of a story with no X’s and O’s.
And on Wednesday, a new report portrayed just how extreme the headlines have become.
“There is some anger within the organization toward the league,” ESPN NBA senior writer Zach Lowe said on the latest episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast. “There’s a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and using the ball as a weapon on offense.”
Sabonis heard the report, but, just as puzzled as many others were, said he’s just “focusing on the team and trying to help them.”
Regardless of all the outside noise, it’s safe to say both teams want to focus on the game -- and only the game.
“Like I said, I don’t want to take away from the team,” Sabonis emphasized. “We’re doing a great job. We have to keep going. I just want to help my team out there. We can’t get distracted by that. We need to lock in 100 percent on just the game.”
For the defending champions, without their heart and soul in Green, they have a similar mindset heading into a critical Game 3.
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Sacramento, up 2-0, isn’t taking this game lightly by any means.
“They’re the defending champs,” Sabonis said. “We’re coming in their building. It’s a long series. First one to win four games. We did our job and now they have a chance to do theirs. I hope there’s no confidence [from our team] and I hope we’re just as locked in as were in Games 1 and 2.
“We can’t let go of anything. We have to come out and be focused for 48 minutes.”