Imago
Credits: YouTube
Imago
Credits: YouTube
The Golden State Warriors may be a skeleton crew but they are boisterous. They’re about to get in the Play-In dogfight and they’re already competitively charged. The Sacramento Kings felt every bit of that. In a tight game, the Dubs put the officials to work, took over the Golden 1 Center with literal barking, and even got a teammate thrown out of the game. While most worried about Stephen Curry’s ankle, the mood in Golden State was summarized by Gary Payton II’s ejection.
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The Kings took Draymond Green’s tanking allegations personally because they made this a physical contest. The fuse was lit late in the third quarter when Kings youngster Dylan Cardwell forced a jump ball against De’Anthony Melton. Cardwell began ‘barking,’ not figuratively arguing, literally barking like a hound at the Warriors bench.
Hilariously, the Dubs weren’t confused too long. They responded in the same language. Draymond Green & Co. began barking too and matched Cardwell’s energy. Steve Kerr was rightfully hiding his face from secondhand embarrassment. The highlight of this scene was Russell Westbrook’s cringe and slow clap at it all.
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The energy got a little out of hand in the fourth quarter. At this point, Curry and Green aren’t in the game because Steve Kerr’s prioritizing their health. Both teams are neck and neck. Gary Payton II threw a ball into the stands and got his second tech (he got his first in the third quarter).
GP2 got ejected for throwing the ball into the stands pic.twitter.com/12VA1HrruD
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 11, 2026
After racking up two techs, he was immediately thrown out of the game. That made the shorthanded Warriors even scarcer. Payton had made 10 points in 15 minutes by that point. But nothing could prevent the Warriors’ 124-118 loss tonight.
Only yesterday, the team was in low spirits after seeing LJ Cryer twist his ankle against the Lakers. Yet 24 hours later, GPII and the Warriors are showing they’re pretty energetic before the play-ins.
The Warriors barked some more
Whatever emotional high the Warriors are on, they need to share with their fans. After Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, they’d seen even LJ Cryer go down. Today, Stephen Curry and Kristaps Porzingis were in the rotation. But things got scary in the first half.
Dylan Cardwell started barking after forcing the jump ball —
Warriors get the possession, hit a 3, and Draymond started barking back. 💀
This is amazing. 🤣 (via @gswchris)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 11, 2026
Curry rolled his ankle horribly while intercepting Devin Carter’s steal attempt. He limped to the bench but returned and played through the game for 27 minutes and then sit out the closing minutes. But not before picking up a rare technical foul.
He was not even playing when he got that tech. He apparently left the bench for celebrating his teammate’s shot and got awarded a foul. The side effect was the Warriors bench had more reason to ‘bark’ – the arguing kind – at the officials.
You’d think they’d be out of energy after all that? But no. Draymond Green and Maxime Raynaud got into an argument after one possession in the third. It was a second from a shoving match but teammates got in quickly and separated them. No ejections or fouls were awarded on this one. So again, Dub Nation online was questioning referees for their decisions in this game.
Only last game, Russell Westbrook was goofing around with Dray and Steph right before Green accused them of shady strategies. The script was flipped this time and both teams made it a grind.
