Kings beat Warriors and take 2-0 series lead
Sacramento Kings’ DeAaron Fox drives up court as Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton II chases during 4th quarter of Kings’ 114-106 win in Game 2 of NBA Western Conference 1st round playoff game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, April 17, 2023.Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
2023.04.17 – De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and made a backbreaking 3-pointer that led the playoff newcomer Kings to a 114-106 win Monday night for their second straight victory over the Golden State Warriors.
As the referees went to the replay monitor to determine whether Draymond Green should be ejected for his hard stomp, the Sacramento Kings took that time to regroup and make sure they didn’t lose focus down the stretch.
Fox and crew took over from there and delivered the Kings a 2-0 series lead that has the defending NBA champions reeling.
“I think that brought us together,” Fox said. “We huddled up and were like, ‘We have to win this game.’ Everybody thought he’d be ejected. When that happens, usually that team comes together and goes on a run. But we were able to negate that.”
The Kings closed the game strong after Green was ejected for a flagrant foul against Domantas Sabonis. They became the first team to take a 2-0 series lead over the Warriors in the Stephen Curry era.
The Warriors will try to get back into the series when it shifts less than 90 miles southwest to San Francisco for Game 3 on Thursday night.
“You’ve got to embrace it,” Curry said. “We’ve never been in this situation, so we have to stay together, stay locked in on things we need to do better, embrace the challenge and protect our home court, which we’ve done great all year.
“That’s the old saying, a series doesn’t start until somebody wins on the other team’s home floor. If we want to get ourselves back into it, it’s going to start with a focused effort in Game 3.”
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBA Playoffs highlights)
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry is guarded by Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabots and Kevin Huerter during Game 2 of NBA Western Conference 1st round playoff game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, April 17, 2023.Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBA Playoffs highlights)
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBA Playoffs highlights)
The Warriors fell victim to the same three issues in Game 2 that haunted them throughout the regular season and reared their ugly heads in spurts in Game 1: poor box-outs, turnovers and fouling.
Golden State surrendered 12 offensive rebounds in Game 2 after giving up 17 on Saturday, and the Kings finished with 20 second-chance points. The Warriors also had 22 giveaways — 13 in the first half — and allowed Sacramento to shoot 29 free throws, resulting in 21 more points. Golden State got just 18 attempts at the charity stripe.
“You don’t just flip a switch, your issues are your issues,” forward Green said. “We have to work through them and figure them out.”
The game got heated in the fourth quarter when Green stomped on Sabonis’ chest with 7:03 to play, leading to an ejection for a flagrant foul
During the review, fans in Sacramento yelled derogatory chants toward Green, who egged them on by waving his hands, holding a hand to his ear calling for louder cheers and standing on a chair.
“My leg got grabbed,” Green said. “Second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I’ve got to land my foot somewhere. I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far. … I can only step so far.”
Sabonis finished the game but coach Mike Brown said he was undergoing X-rays afterward to make sure there wasn’t damage to his ribs or lungs.
Now it will be up to the NBA to determine whether an ejection is all that was warranted or if Green will face a possible suspension.
“It was a flagrant-2 for sure,” Brown said. “It’ll be interesting to see with what the NBA does after they review it.
The Warriors fought back to tie the game before the Kings went on a 17-8 run to run away with it to the delight of the towel-waving crowd.
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBC Sports post game)
Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green stomps on Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis resulting in a Flagrant 2 foul during 4th quarter of Kings’ 114-106 win in Game 2 of NBA Western Conference 1st round playoff game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Monday, April 17, 2023.Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBC Sports post game)
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (NBC Sports post game)
Fox’s 3-pointer made it 107-101 with 2:17 to play and the Kings were in control from there. Davion Mitchell put it away with another 3 that made it 112-103 with 1:18 left.
“The big 3 in the corner was honestly the nail in the coffin,” Fox said of Mitchell’s shot.
Sabonis added 24 points for Sacramento, and Malik Monk scored 18 off the bench.
Curry led the Warriors with 28 points but shot just 3 of 13 from 3-point range as Golden State struggled to get going offensively. The Warriors committed 22 turnovers.
“They played better than we did down the stretch,” coach Steve Kerr said. “They played more physical than us tonight.”
Andrew Wiggins, making his first start for the Warriors since Feb. 13, played just under 40 minutes, so the 28-year-old’s conditioning remains a non-issue despite his 25-game absence to end the regular season. Wiggins spent the bulk of the game checking guard De’Aaron Fox, and Fox cooled off from his 38-point night in the series’ first game.
The crowd in success-starved Sacramento wasn’t quite as loud at the start as in the series opener when fans celebrated the franchise’s first playoff game following a record drought of 16 seasons.
The crowd started to get into it in the second quarter thanks to another spark off the bench from Monk, who scored 32 points in the opener. Monk hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:04 of the period to help fuel a 23-8 run that turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
Golden State fought back and tied it on a 3 by Curry before allowing the final six points of the quarter to trail 58-52 at halftime.
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (Kruger Show post game)
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins (left) and center Kevon Looney (5) and Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis battle for a the loose ball in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of their first-round playoff series at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Saturday.Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (Kruger Show post game)
2023.04.17 – Warriors @ Kings GM2 (Kruger Show post game)
“We played a really good first quarter, held them to 17 points,” Kerr said. “But we couldn’t sustain it and the game got away from us in the second quarter, and then they kind of controlled things from there.”
The Kings built the lead to 14 points in the third quarter before the Warriors scored eight in a row. Sacramento led 83-75 heading into the fourth.
“Everything is a balance,” Kerr said. “We tried to find the best two-way lineups we could. So on offense, I felt like we needed more spacing. And then on defense, they’re a physical team. We needed some physicality, we need some size out there.”
SLOPPY START
The teams got off to a sloppy start with each committing nine turnovers in the first quarter. The 18 combined turnovers in the first period were the most in any game in more than six seasons and the most in a playoff game since at least the 2001-02 season.
The Kings also missed their first 11 3-pointers before Fox made one late in the first.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Wiggins was back in the starting lineup in his second game back following an absence of more than two months to deal with an undisclosed family matter. Wiggins scored 22 points. … Golden State committed five fouls in the first 1:42 of the third quarter.
Kings: Sacramento’s 41 points in the second quarter marked the eighth time a team scored at least 40 in one quarter of a playoff game against the Warriors in Kerr’s tenure.
UP NEXT
Game 3 is Thursday night at Chase Center in San Francisco. The Warriors haven’t fallen behind 2-0 in a playoff series since the second round against Utah in 2007.
Related – See : Kings Top Warriors to win first playoff game
Related – See below: 2022 Warriors NBA Finals video highlights
Read more at: Golden State Warriors Media Services / More AP NBA
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
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2022 Warriors NBA Finals video highlights