Mar 6, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas (22) drives in against Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

This time, Klay Thompson’s ice-cold shooting performance (1-of-13 from the field) and the inability to keep Isaiah Thomas from heat-checking his way to 17 second-half points doomed the Dubs.

At the risk of oversimplifying, this game really came down to one thing: three-point shooting. Sacramento improbably knocked in 39 percent of its 28 long-range attempts, while Golden State hit just 21 percent of its 24 tries. Really, though, it shouldn’t have mattered how poorly the Warriors shot the ball from beyond the arc against a team as wholly dysfunctional as the potentially-sorta-but-maybe-not-for-sure Seattle Kings.

The Dubs should have feasted on the lazy Kings in transition, outworked them on the offensive glass or even just committed a hard foul or two. These are the friggin’ Kings we’re talking about here. Coming into Wednesday’s tilt they had won just six times on the road all season. A light shove—perhaps even a hearty sneeze—should have been enough to get Keith Smart’s disorganized, disinterested bunch to roll over and die.

But for whatever reason, the Warriors let another one get away to the Kings, effectively erasing an emotional and encouraging win over the L.A. Lakers on Monday.

With the Houston Rockets losing to the Indiana Pacers, the Dubs also blew a chance to strengthen their grip on the No. 6 seed in the West to one-and-a-half games. So the negative effects of Wednesday’s disappointing loss actually did have some potentially further-reaching consequences.

Look, Golden State doesn’t have to worry about teams like the Kings in the postseason. But it does have to be concerned with the troublesome trend of letdown games cropping up at random.

Charles Barkley—king of hackneyed, reductive NBA analysis—likes to point out that jump-shooting teams can’t win championships, largely because games like the one that happened to the Warriors on Wednesday make it possible for them to fall to unlikely opponents.

Well, the Chuckster’s partially right: Jump-shooting teams are vulnerable. But they’re especially so when they refuse to simply leverage their superior talent and teamwork to stomp out inferior competition when their shots aren’t falling. The Warriors failed to take control of a game that, by all rights, they should have.

The result was a disheartening loss to an ultimately unworthy opponent.

Lame, right?

Jan 19, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots over New Orleans Hornets shooting guard Roger Mason Jr. (8) during the second half of a game at the New Orleans Arena. The Warriors defeated the Hornets 116-112. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Jan 19, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets point guard Greivis Vasquez (21) reacts after a foul is called during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors at the New Orleans Arena. The Warriors defeated the Hornets, 116-112. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Golden State had to fight off a couple of furious Rocket runs en route to the statement victory, and the effort it expended (combined with the elation of a big win against a budding rival) could leave the Warriors exhausted.

But they’ll be back at it against the New Orleans Hornets tonight. In the NBA, there’s no rest for the weary.

Fortunately, the Hornets are losers of 8-of-10 and haven’t beaten a playoff team since a 111-100 defeat of the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 8. Golden State may be heading into NOLA without much fuel in the tank, but the Hornets might just be bad enough for the Warriors to coast—even if they’re only running on fumes.

The Dubs have won three out of four and if you pretend that debacle at home against the Chicago Bulls never happened—which I personally prefer to do—they’re on a three-game winning streak!

Curry and Klay Thompson will look to build on one of their best collective performances in weeks against New Orleans, as the duo dropped a combined 55 points on 40 shots against the Rockets. But whatever Golden State’s backcourt duo does (or doesn’t do), one of the real keys to the game will be Andrew Bogut’s ability to bounce back after a 33-minute effort against Houston.

Bogut looked about as good as he has all season against the Rockets, piling up 12 points and 12 boards along with three blocks. He’s still a somewhat reluctant scorer, but his toughness and activity inside makes the Dubs a different team. He’ll have to prove he’s got back-to-back efforts in him before all of the hand wringing over his health can finally stop.

WHO: Golden State Warriors (38-30) vs. New Orleans Hornets (22-45)

WHERE: New Orleans Arena

WHEN: 5:00 p.m. PT, CSN Bay Area

AT STAKE: A chance to earn a full two-game advantage on the idle Houston Rockets for the No. 7 spot in the West.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Klay Thompson. It seems like the Warriors shooting guard has made a habit of following up his gems with clunkers. After dropping 26 points and hitting six triples against the Rockets, he’s got to put together a second straight hot-shooting night.

PREDICTION: The Dubs are tired and the Hornets are a lottery team, which means this game has “trap” written all over it. Still, Golden State should have enough left to pull out a relatively close win. Warriors 100, Hornets 96.