Nov 26, 2017 OAKLAND, Calif. -- Northern California's rivals meet for the first time this season when the Sacramento Kings visit the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.The Warriors have dominated the rivalry in recent years, winning 13 in a row over their neighbors to the north before the Kings handed Golden State one of its 15 losses last season, 109-106 in overtime in February.The Warriors rebounded with a pair of home wins to give them their fourth straight season-series triumph.Golden State will be seeking to sweep a four-day, three-game homestand against a Kings team that hasn't won a road game since the first week of the season.The Warriors haven't missed a beat in two earlier wins in the homestand, blowing out the Chicago Bulls 143-94 without Kevin Durant (sprained ankle) and Draymond Green (rest), before rallying from an early 14-point deficit without Durant again to dispatch of the New Orleans Pelicans 110-95 on Saturday night.The Golden State backcourt led the way in both wins. Stephen Curry followed up a 33-point explosion against the Bulls with a team-high 27 points in the win over the Pelicans, while Klay Thompson provided 29 and 24 points of support.The Warriors, who hurt themselves with turnovers on a 2-2 trip immediately before the homestand, limited the mistakes to a total of just 21 in the back-to-back home wins."Shots just weren't going in, which is all right when you only have single-digit turnovers," Thompson said after Saturday's win. "That's why I think we won tonight, because we did not shoot a good percentage, but when we limit ourselves to nine, 10 turnovers a night, and we're getting up a shot on almost every possession, it's definitely in our favor." Durant remains questionable for Monday's game.Omri Casspi, a former King, has filled in admirably for Durant, contributing a total of 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists to the wins Friday and Saturday.The game matches not only teams at the opposite ends of the Pacific Division standings, but also the first-place Warriors having won six in a row at home while the last-place Kings have dropped nine in succession on the road.Sacramento completed a 1-2 homestand by blowing an 18-point lead in a 97-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.Buddy Hield led a late Kings rally with 16 fourth-quarter points, but his tough jumper over one of the league's top defenders, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, was off the mark at the horn, leaving Sacramento two points short."I wish I could see what I could've done to get a better shot off," he said. "But it was a great defensive play." Hield started the Kings' first seven games. But after the club began the season with a 1-6 record, he was repositioned to the bench, and has responded well, scoring in double figures seven times.Hield had 22 points, equaling the second-most he recorded in a game last season in his only game for the Kings in Oakland last March.
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