Shaquille O’Neal Tells De’Aaron Fox’s Kings How to Deliver the Final Punch on Stephen Curry and the “Lackadaisical” Warriors: “Don’t Turn It Into Panic”

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ByRanjitha Ramesh

Apr 30, 2023 | 7:50 AM EDT

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In Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Friday night, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors with a commanding score of 118-99. De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, a potent scoring tandem for the Kings, were in charge. They scored a combined 54 points, with Keegan Murray contributing 15. The Kings dominated the glass the whole game, outscoring the Stephen Curry‘s Warriors 35–26 in the second quarter.

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Meanwhile, Shaquille O’Neal, a pundit in the scene offers his take on the Kings vs Warriors.

Shaquille O’Neal offers his take

The Inside the NBA crew gathered once again to do what they do best, cut into the game. The crew discussed the upcoming game between the Kings and the Warriors. While doing so, Ernie Johnson brings up the value of experience. He then asked Shaq about what transpired in game 6 of the playoffs. Shaquille O’Neal responded, making it clear that he was impressed by the veteran team.

Shaq said, “They just played very laxadaisical. They played like they had already won the series. They played like the young guys are going to back down. And the Sacramento team has impressed me a lot, they don’t play like a young team. They playing like they have the experience.”

However, he showed concern for the Kings. He said, “Pressure is on them tomorrow they’re going to be at home, everybody should be comfortable. Because when you’re getting these games, you just be so hype right? But if you’re hype and it don’t go your way, don’t turn that into panic.”

He then shared that he had been in plenty of situations where things didn’t turn out like how he wanted them to. “They just got to continue to play the game continue to do that thing and just play well,” he said.

The Sacramento Kings are now gearing up for their matchup with the Golden State Warriors. As said by Shaq himself, this might be the “old dog’s” last chance to take over the young puppies, just like the Los Angeles Lakers’ series with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Lakers absolutely demolished the Grizzlies.

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Stephen Curry makes history

The Golden State Warriors experienced a challenging loss in Game 6 resulting from a sloppy game with nineteen errors that cost them dearly. Meanwhile, their star player Stephen Curry made history despite everything that went south. The two-time MVP passed legendary Lakers player Magic Johnson and former Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki to move up to position 15 on the list of all-time playoff-scoring leaders.

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Curry outscored Hakeem Olajuwon by 29 points in Game 6 to overtake him for the 14th-most postseason points in history (4,514 total). If the Warriors succeed in winning Game 7, Curry might climb the list even higher this year.

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The seventh and final game on Sunday will be an exciting climax to the matchup between the Kings and Warriors. Will the Warriors continue to dominate the West? Or will the Kings pull off the unexpected and advance to the next stage? Only time can tell!