Warriors Sweep Series With Kings
The Golden State Warriors won their second game in as many nights, earning a 128-116 road victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 38 points and 11 assists. Draymond Green added 25 points and nine rebounds, while Klay Thompson chipped in 15 points and six assists. With the victory, Golden State improves to 35-2 on the season.
Back-to-backs can be rough on any team, and the Warriors proved to be no exception with their rusty start to Saturday’s contest. Golden State’s first three possessions of the game all resulted in turnovers, which Sacramento promptly turned into a 4-0 lead. Brandon Rush’s three-pointer on the next possession would get the Warriors on the board, and proved to be the beginning of a trend that would keep them in the game despite their reckless play. After Klay Thompson’s layup cut the Kings’ lead to 6-5 with 9:42 left in the first quarter, each of the next five Golden State baskets would come by way of the three-pointer, the last of which from Draymond Green pulled the Warriors within 25-22 with 2:20 left to play. Festus Ezeli would score the next two baskets to give the Dubs a brief lead before Willy Caulie-Stein’s jumper with 0.7 seconds left sent the game into the second quarter with the Kings holding a 27-26 lead. 14 of Sacramento’s 27 points came off of Warriors’ turnovers and second-chance opportunities.
After Golden State failed to score in the opening two minutes of the second frame, Luke Walton got Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green back on the court, and it paid immediate dividends. Green sank a jumper on the ensuing possession, and Golden State’s offense began to click. Again, the three-pointer proved to be the Warriors’ savior, as each of their next three baskets came from beyond the three-point arc.
The first of those treys came from Stephen Curry, and the reigning MVP was only getting started. After Klay Thompson’s layup gave the Warriors a 41-39 lead with 6:07 left in the half, Curry began to take over. He’d score the next 13 points for Golden State, the last three of which put the Dubs up 54-52 with 1:33 left to play.
DeMarcus Cousins was equally impressive, scoring 11 points over the same span and then tying the game at 54-54 with a jumper with 1:13 remaining. The two sides played it fairly even the rest of the way, until Draymond Green’s three-pointer with 10.5 seconds left sent the game into halftime with Golden State holding a 60-58 advantage. Through two quarters, the Warriors had shot 12-of-23 from the three-point line, where as Sacramento only made 1-of-10.
The Warriors’ three-point efficiency would continue into the second half, as Klay Thompson sank a trey 17 seconds in. Rudy Gay scored four consecutive points for Sacramento to pull the Kings within 65-62, but DeMarcus Cousins picked up his fourth personal foul with 9:44 remaining in the frame, and the Warriors took advantage.
Golden State would immediately go on a 9-2 run following Cousins’ departure from the floor, giving them a 74-64 lead with 8:07 remaining from which the Kings would never recover. Sacramento pulled within five points nearly three minutes later, but once again Draymond Green drained a three-pointer to halt the Kings momentum. Stephen Curry would make two free throws with 3.5 seconds left to put the Warriors up 14, before two free throws from Cauley-Stein as a result of a flagrant foul sent the game into the fourth and final quarter with the Warriors leading 96-84.
Shaun Livingston’s jumper with 7:05 left in the game kept the margin at 12 and put the Warriors up 106-94. Golden State would outscore Sacramento 12-8 over the next three minutes, taking their largest lead of the game at 118-102 with 4:23 remaining in the game.
From there, however, the Kings would have one final push to try to get back in the game. Rudy Gay’s putback with 2:59 left cut the deficit to 118-113, but that was as close as they would get.
Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala scored on the next two Warriors’ possessions, halting Sacramento’s momentum and putting the game out of reach. After Marco Belinelli’s three-pointer brought the Kings within 122-116 with 1:10 left to play, Stephen Curry scored the final six points of the game to secure a 128-116 victory.
With the win, the Warriors improve to 35-2 and sweep the four-game season series with Sacramento. Now riding a six-game win streak, the Warriors will look to build upon their momentum in their next game when they host the Miami Heat at Oracle Arena on Monday night.
Read more at: Golden State Warriors Media Services / More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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