Warriors-Kings: What to watch for

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Consecutive victories against Dallas and the L.A. Clippershave the Warriors upward trending these days, and they get a chance to keep itgoing Tuesday against the Kings in Sacramento.Although the Warriors remain in 13th place in theWestern Conference, they are only three games behind the Houston Rockets, whocurrently hold the eighth and final playoff spot.The Warriors are one of four teams in the playoff chase with21 losses. The Warriors (17-21) have played just 38 games, the fewest of anyteam in the NBA.The Kings are in Game 4 of a nine-game homestand and so farhave won two of three. Here are some things to watch for when the Warriors playthe Kings on Tuesday: Tyreke at 3: Kings coach Keith Smart hasbeen playing Tyreke Evans at small forward in recent weeks, allowing IsaiahThomas and Marcus Thornton to handle the backcourt duties.Evans has played mostly point guard and some two guard inhis two-plus seasons in the league. How the Warriors match up will likely bedetermined by who starts for them.Currys status: Its unclear what thestrategy is with point guard Stephen Curry and his troublesome footankle, butone thing that seems certain is Curry is unlikely to play big minutes.And that doesnt matter if he starts or not.Curry hasnt played more than 24 minutes in a game in morethan three weeks, and he played just nine minutes against the Clippers onSunday.Currys availabilityand whether he starts if he does play is something coach Mark Jackson hasnt been announcing till just beforetip-off. When Curry hasnt been starting, Jackson has gone with DominicMcGuire.High-scoring twos: Monta Ellis and MarcusThornton are each capable of having big scoring games. Whichever player has thebetter, more efficient shooting night will go a long way toward determiningwhich team wins.Continue road effort: The road has longbeen a killer for the Warriors, but they have been successful away from Oraclein recent weeks. In their past seven away games, the Warriors are 4-3.The teams have split two games this season, with each teamwinning on its own home court.

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