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Warriors take playoff push to Sacramento

Feb 19, 2014 - 3:11 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Golden State Warriors will make their playoff push over the final third of the season, starting Wednesday night when they visit Sleep Train Arena to take on their Pacific Division rivals, the Sacramento Kings.

The Warriors share the seventh seed in the Western Conference with the Phoenix Suns. The margin is so thin, the Warriors could easily move into the sixth spot, or fall out of the postseason race.

"Our mindset is the same," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said after practice on Monday. "We had goals in the beginning. We're excited about starting the second half of the season and getting back to good, solid basketball."

The Warriors lost three of five heading into the break, but they were without center Andrew Bogut for the last four. He has a shoulder injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Golden State's last time out was a crushing loss at home to the Miami Heat when LeBron James drained a step-back, fall away 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.

All-Star Steph Curry had given the Warriors the lead, but James' heroics were too much to overcome. Curry finished with 12 points and 11 assists in his All- Star debut Sunday night.

The Kings snapped a three-game slide in their last outing before the break. Sacramento toppled the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday, 106-101 in overtime. That victory salvaged at least one win on a four-game eastern trip.

"I thought our defense and our ability to pull out a win tonight was terrific going into the (All-Star) break and hopefully we can build on this coming out of the break," said Kings head coach Michael Malone.

Jimmer Fredette poured in a career-high 24 points off the bench shooting a scorching 6-for-8 from 3-point range to help the Kings snap a seven-game road losing streak.

Rudy Gay and Isaiah Thomas contributed 20 points apiece to the win. Gay forced overtime with a successful jumper with 20.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, while Thomas capped his night with a game-sealing basket in the final seconds of extra time.

Thomas injured his left wrist at practice and is questionable for Wednesday's game.

DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Sacramento before exiting the contest in the fourth quarter with a strained left hip flexor.

Cousins and Fredette sat out practice on Monday. Cousins is listed as probable, while Fredette is questionable.

The Warriors won both matchups against the Kings this season with one in Oakland and the other in Sacramento. The Kings are 4-2 in their last six against Golden State as the host.