The Golden State Warriors are a “cooked” team this season and “not a contender” to win the NBA championship, according to TNT Sports expert Charles Barkley.
The Warriors were eliminated from the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament in crushing fashion after losing 124-123 to the Sacramento Kings.
Golden State led by four points with just 46 seconds remaining but key turnovers from Steph Curry and Draymond Green followed by two clutch shots from Malik Monk saw the Kings come away with the victory.
The win sees Sacramento advance into the quarter-final stages of the tournament where they will come up against the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was revenge for the Kings who were knocked out of last year’s playoffs by the Warriors in a fiercely-contested seven-game series.
Following the loss, Barkley said the result reaffirmed his belief that the Warriors are not the same team that won championships in the past.
“As I told y’all, this team is cooked. Y’all thought I was crazy,” Barkley said. “They got away last year because Steph went crazy in Game 7 [of the playoffs against Sacramento].
“Sacramento should have beat them. Steph, he’s gonna start slowing down soon. They’ve got an old team, everybody slows down.
“People forgot. Last year, Sacramento went there, it was like ‘they [the Warriors] are going to win Game 6 at home’. Sacramento went in there and kicked their butt.
“But then I said ‘man, Sacramento’. I picked them to win that series, but Steph went crazy.
“He’s not gonna be able to continue to do that because those other guys aren’t the same, either. They’re older. This team is cooked. They’re not a contender.
“Dude, it’s nothing personal. That’s like last year when Klay [Thompson] went crazy on me. I was like dude, I love Klay. Klay’s not the same guy.
“Draymond’s not the same guy. [Andrew] Wiggins has never been that guy. And then you factor in Steph has already been hurt this year. And one thing I know about old people, they just get older.”
Elsewhere, the Boston Celtics continued their fine start to the season with a 124-97 victory over the Chicago Bulls to advance into the quarter-finals of the In-Season Tournament.
The Milwaukee Bucks maintained their unbeaten record in the tournament following a hard-fought 131-124 win over the Miami Heat as they advanced into the knockouts as group winners.
There were also wins for the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves in last night’s action.
The quarter-finals will get underway on December 4 and will be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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