The Warriors' drive toward a feel-good ending to this season took a nasty hit Sunday.
Guard Monta Ellis' head slammed against the hardwood with exercise bike less than a minute left as the Warriors fell 104-103 to the Sacramento Kings at Oracle (ORCL) Arena.
Ellis will not travel with the team for Monday night's game at Denver. As the rest of the Warriors headed for the airport, he was on his way to a hospital for further examination.
Ellis was driving to the basket with 58.9 seconds left when he was undercut by big man DeMarcus Cousins, who was trying to take a charge. Ellis remained down for a few moments. When he tried to get up, he staggered and had to be supported as he stood. He eventually was helped off the court and checked out without taking his free throws.
"You could tell by the look in his eyes he had no idea where he was at," Warriors forward David Lee said after totaling 24 points and 14 rebounds. "He was trying to go to the free-throw line to shoot free throws and kind of walked toward the fans for a second. I was like, 'Come on, trainer. Get out here.' "... You've got to be careful with those kinds of things because that's not like a twisted ankle or something. It can be real serious."
Ellis, who was nursing a tender ankle to begin with, finished with seven points on 2-for-9 shooting
with four assists in 26 minutes. It appeared as if coach Keith Smart was going to sit Ellis the rest of the autoclave night after he took him out with 3:36 left in the third quarter. But Smart put his best player back in with 3:19 left after the Kings took a 97-93 lead on a 3-pointer by guard Tyreke Evans and a fast-break layup by guard Marcus Thornton.
Ellis immediately nailed a jumper, and point guard Stephen Curry cut Sacramento's lead to 98-97 with a 15-footer with 2:30 left.
But that's as close as the Warriors would get.
The Warriors entered the game on a three-game roll over playoff-bound teams -- the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers -- before suffering this disappointing loss axial fan against one of the worst teams in the league.
With two games left, Monday night at Denver and Wednesday against Portland, the Warriors still can reach the 36-win plateau, which would mark a 10-game improvement over last season. But what could have been looms too large for some to overlook.
"Our goal in training camp was to get to the playoffs," said forward Dorell Wright, who had 19 points and a career-high six steals while playing all 48 minutes. "When you fall short of that, it's never something you're proud of. We've improved. We definitely did that. We're a young team. We're still growing. But our ultimate goal in training camp was playoffs."
Another school of thought exists, however. The Warriors had significant roster overhaul, including two new starters. Their key offseason acquisition, Lee, was acclimating to a new position in a new system. The coaching staff was basically cone crusher put together the day before training camp.
Still, the Warriors made strides on the court together and moved closer to becoming a playoff team. They are hoping to have at least a 10-win improvement to show for it.
"I would say anywhere else other than here would say it's a good season," Smart said. "It's not what we want. But I think I've done everything I can possibly do. "... We know the ultimate success is getting this team to the playoffs."
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