Warriors, Nets stumble as Embid and Maxey punish Blunt Nets in Brooklyn.

7-time and defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors are down in unfamiliar territory after their second straight play-off series loss at the hands of Sacramento Kings on Tuesday morning.

Despite having the prolific shooting duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson famously known as the splash brothers who dropped 28 and 21 points respectively they fell victim to the same issues in Game 2 that haunted them throughout the regular season and reared their ugly heads in spurts in Game 1: poor box-outs, turnovers and fouling.

Golden State surrendered 12 offensive rebounds in Game 2 after giving up 17 on Saturday, and the Kings finished with 20 second-chance points. The Warriors also had 22 giveaways — 13 in the first half — and allowed Sacramento to shoot 29 free throws, resulting in 21 more points. Golden State got just 18 attempts at the charity stripe.

As the Warriors’ first-round series against the Sacramento Kings shifts to San Francisco, Golden State will open play at Chase Center on Thursday trailing Sacramento 0-2. This is unfamiliar territory for Stephen Curry who has never been down 0-2 in a playoff series at any point in his 14-year career.

“You got to embrace it,” said Curry. “We’ve never been in this situation, so we have to stay together, stay locked in on things we need to do better, embrace the challenge and protect our home court, which we’ve done great all year.

Elsewhere Philadelphia 76ers doubled their lead with a 96-84 first-round Game 2 win over Brooklyn Nets, who lost their second game before a sellout crowd of 20,958 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.

With  KIA MVP race leader Joel Embiid facing double defense most of the time from the nets team, shooting guard Tyrese Maxey who came up clutch dropping 33 points to give the Philadelphia based outfit an advantage ahead of game 3.

In 41 minutes of action, Maxey made 13 of his 23 shots, including six of 13 from three-point range, and was one of three from the free throw line.

Maxey on multiple occasions was afforded wide-open shots from three-point range and he did his best to knock them down during crucial moments in the game.

The Philadelphia 76ers will now travel to face the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, April 21, 2023