Golden State Warriors 114 vs 106 Sacramento Kings summary: stats and highlights | NBA Playoffs Game 2
The Sacramento Kings took a two games to none lead over the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Monday night, and they did it in large part due to their defense. De’Aaron Fox lead the Kings again, this time scoring 24 points in just his second playoff game ever.
Kings force 22 TOs
The Kings came into the postseason as one of the worst defensive teams in the league, but on Monday night it was their defense that made the difference. Well, that and a combination of the Warriors inability to hang on to the ball.
Golden State got off to a great start from the field as the Kings went just 1/13 from downtown in the opening quarter. The Warriors couldn’t capitalize because they turned the ball over nine times in the opening 12 minutes, the Kings had just as many turnovers and scored just 17 points before heading into the second quarter, but they would take better care of the ball as the game went on.
The tides turned and the buckets started falling for the Kings who started to pour it on thanks to Monk, Fox and Kevin Huerter. Huerter had 15 points, mostly in the first half as the Kings built up a 10 point lead.
Green, Looney early foul trouble
Steph Curry and the Warriors would battle back to tie the game up, going on a 12-2 run before the halftime break, but a quick spurt from the Kings had the home side going into the second half with a 6 point lead.
The game was played at a considerably slow pace for two high scoring teams, but it really slowed down in the third quarter. Fouls filled the 12 minutes after the break, and Draymond Green and Kevon Looney both were in foul trouble shortly after halftime. With both big men on the bench the Kings lead stretched to 14 points in the third quarter, but the Warriors would come battling back.
Andrew Wiggins again was vital in the Warriors comeback bid, scoring 22 points in just his second game back. Thompson hit a couple big threes, and Curry would score 13 in the fourth quarter to tie the game with les than six on the clock, but De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis would close the Warriors out in the final minutes.
Green ejected after stomp
Sabonis had the last laugh after being involved in a dust up with Draymond Green. The Lithuanian grabbed Green’s foot after a collision on an attempted rebound to which Green responded by stomping on Sabonis. Sabonis would get T’d up after review, but Green was called for a flagrant two, and ejected from the game.
That would allow the Kings to dominate on the boards the rest of the way, as Sacramento had 20 points off 12 offensive rebounds. The Kings also poured in 25 points off the Warriors 22 turnovers to seal the win.
Both Fox and Sabonis had 24 points, while Monk added 18 off the bench and Harrison Barnes had 13 points, most of which came late in the game as he came through in the clutch again.
The Kings now set their sights on the Bay Area, knowing they can sweep the series at Chase Arena against a team that has never been down 2-0 in the Steve Kerr era. Game 3 is Thursday night from the Bay.
The Kings are headed to the Bay Area up 2-0 after taking care of business at home. Steve Kerr has never been down 0-2 as the Warriors coach, they will need a big comeback if they are going to continue their title defense.
After starting the game 1/13 from behind the arc, the Kings sealed it from downtown with this three from Davion Mitchell.
Draymond was ejected after stepping on Sabonis late in the fourth quarter, and that allowed the big man to grab some easy buckets with the paint a little less congested.
The Kings would see their 14 point lead disappear, but with the game on the line it was Fox with the ball in his hand, dishing it off to Barnes who finished with 13.
Mr. Fourth quarter did it again for the Kings. Fox is showing he is mature beyond his years in his first playoff series ever. He had 24 and 9 assists in the Game 2 win.
Monk followed up his huge Game 1 with 18 points off the bench, and helped the Kings get out to their largest lead of the night, 14.
The Warriors big men had trouble stopping Sabonis tonight after he struggled from the field in Game 1. He had 24 and 9, and had Draymond Green and Kevon Looney in foul trouble early in the third quarter.
Harrison Barne's may not have had the most jaw dropping statistical night, but he was the most important player on the court bringing high energy plays like this all game.
The Warriors ended the game with 20 turnovers and gave up 12 offensive rebounds which lead to 25 points off TOs and 20 second chance points.
The Kings were down by 6 to start the second quarter, and in the blink of an eye they pulled ahead by 2.
Sacramento went 1/13 from DT to start the game, but Monk came out scorching in the second quarter, hitting three threes in the first two minutes.
The Warriors committed 9 turnovers in the first half. The Kings did too, and that's why they only scored 17 points in the first quarter, but they would right the ship from the second quarter on.
Fox got going early on, but the story of the first half, and the entire game was the Warriors turnovers.
IT'S ALL OVER!!! THE KINGS HOLD HOMECOURT AND ARE HEADED TO THE BAY UP 2-0 WITH A CHANCE TO CLOSE OUT THE SERIES ON THE ROAD!
Klay Thompson makes a consolation three with 12 seconds to go but that's going to do it!
Mitchell drills a three ball from the corner and that should do it from Sacramento!
Barnes with another big bucket late in the game. The Kings are back up by 6 with 1:30 to go.
The call is reversed, and the foul will be on Sabonis as Curry goes to the line and hits both FTs.
The refs are taking another look at the play to see if Sabonis was in the restricted area.
Curry whistled for the offensive foul and the Kings get the ball back after a great defensive play from Sabonis.
Fox steps into a three ball and drills it to make it a two possession game with under 2 to go!
Sabonis crashing the boards after the miss by Fox and he gets the put back. Under 3 minutes to go in the fourth!
Thompson with another three ball and it's a one point game here from Sacramento!!
Monk to the line after the Wiggins foul and he hits one of two FTs.
Thompson with a quick trigger three and he strings it!
Barnes penetrating, spinning and finishing off the glass.
Great D from SAC after the timeout and they force a shot clock violation.
Fox pulls up from the top of the key and he strings the mid range jumper.
GS will take a timeout with 4:35 to go in the fourth!
Barnes on the slam down the lane off the Fox dish.
Curry going back at the rack and he gets another lay up to go.
Fox hits the pull up and the fourth quarter is his time. He is stepping up for SAC.
Payton II strings the corner three off the kick out from Moody and we're tied!
Curry gets the runner off the glass after some contact from Mitchell.
Fox calms the Golden 1 Center with a mid range jumper.
Sabonis missed both FTs after the flagrant 2, and that's a big turn around.
Curry hits the FT after the tech.
Sabonis has been called for a technical, and Green was given a flagrant 2 and has been ejected from this game with 7:03 to go.
A little dust up from Sabonis and Green again. Sabonis had a hold of Green's leg, and Green stepped on him. Was the step on Sabonis needed? That's what the refs will have a look at on the review.
Wiggins with the lay up and the Warriors are getting some great looks in the last few possessions.
Monk gets in the lane and gets the roll on the floater.
Curry dashes to the rack and he hits the lay up.
Payton II gets the Jam off the Curry dish!
Cross over from Fox and he finshes off the glass.
Green missed the short shot and Payton II gets the tip in to go.
Thompson fouled Barnes, and he hits both FTs.
Pull up jumper from Mitchell from the top of the key and the lead is back to six with under 10 to go.
Curry gets the lay up to go after the challenge.
The call has been reversed and the Warriors will get the ball back down by 6.
Sabonis went down after the play, and Green was called for the off the ball foul. GS will challenge the call.
Curry with the reverse lay up off the glass and the Kings lead is 6.
We are headed to the fourth quarter with the Kings up 8, just 12 minutes away from going up 2-0 in the series.
Sabonis at the line after the foul on Poole and he hits both FTs.
Wiggins pulls up from just inside the arc and he hits the long two.
Moody on the offensive board and the put back to but the deficit to single digits.
Wiggins at the line and he hits both FTs.
Wiggins on the wing and he penetrates and finishes with a lay up.
Curry missed the mid range jumper and Monk lays it up with the left hand.
Curry at the line after the foul on Mitchell before the inbound, and he misses the FT, but the Warriors will keep possession.
Green at the line and he hits one of two FTs after the foul on Sabonis.
Monk streaks down the lane and gets a tough finish to drop off the glass.
Wiggins ends the run with a mid range jumper from the baseline.
Sabonis gets the ball after a scramble, and gets the hook to go over Green. 10-0 run from the Kings.
Huerter on the floater from inside the FT line and the Kings lead by 11, their largest of the night.
Sabonis at the line after the timeout and he hits both FTs.
Looney just picked up his fifth foul. Green has four and the Warriors have some serious foul trouble with 6:50 still left in the third.
Timeout Golden State.
Murray heading to the line, and he hits both FTs after the foul on Looney.
Fox pulls up from the elbow and he gets the mid range jumper to go.
Thompson pulls the trigger from the perimeter and he drills the triple try!
Looney going to the rack strong and finishes around the iron.
Sabonis gets the entry pass from Fox and he gets the lay up to fall of the glass.
Wiggins answers back with a three ball!
Huerter pulls up from long range and drills a three ball!
Moody follows up the Looney miss with a tip in.
Fox with his first bucket of the half on a pull up floater in the lane.
Huerter at the line after the Wiggins foul and he hits one of two FTs.
Wiggins splits the double team down low, and he gets the baby hook to drop.
Barnes was fouled by Green from behind the arc, and more importantly that was Green's fourth foul. Barnes hits one of three FTs, but Green is going to head to the bench.
WE ARE BACK IN ACTION FROM THE GOLDEN 1 CENTER!!!
GS went down 10 in the second half, but a 12-2 run tied the game back up thanks to Curry's hot shooting.
The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times in that first half, which is a big reason why the Kings are winning after two quarters.
Monk came out and nailed three straight threes to give the Kings the lead in the first couple minutes of the second quarter.
Wiggins is doing what Wiggins does, which is come up big in big game. He's doing a little bit of everything tonight in his second game back.
The Kings really struggled from the field in the first quarter, but they turned the Warriors over 9 times which led to easy buckets on the other end.
We are headed to the halftime break with the Kings up 6 after two quarters!!!
SAC scored just 17 points in the first quarter, but responded with 41 in the second thanks to three quick threes from Monk. They hit 5/11 after going 1/13 in the first quarter.
Sabonis has 12, Monk has 11 while Fox and Huerter have 9.
Curry leads the Warriors with 15, Thompson has 9 and Wiggins has 7 though the first 24 minutes
Sabonis was fouled by Wiggins with 4.9 on the clock and he hits both FTs.
Mitchell picked off the Curry pass and found Barnes for the fast break jam!
Mitchell at the line after the Curry foul, and he hits both FTs. He's got 9 off the bench.
Curry ties it up with a three ball and the Warriors are on a 12-2 run!!! We are under a minute to go in the first half from SAC.
Thompson at the line after Fox picks up his third foul, and Thompson hits both FTs.
Wiggins snaps the net from downtown after the dish from Curry!
Monk at the line and he hits both after the foul on Wiggins.
Payton II at the line after getting fouled on the tip slam attempt and he hits one of two.
Wiggins with back to back buckets for the Warriros, after hitting a three ball from the top of the key!
Sabonis was left wide open from the elbow and he hits the jumper.
Wiggins pulls up from the FT line with under 3:30 to go in the half
Sabonis grabs the offensive board and gets fouled by J. Green. He goes to the line and hits one of two.
Fox was fouled by Thompson and he hits both FTs.
Curry at the line after the foul on Monk, and he hits both FTs.
Sabonis with an AND 1 after a cheap foul from Curry and the FT is good to complete the three point play.
Curry drills a pull up three and let's see if that wakes the Warriors offense up.
Huerter on the turn around push shot in the lane, and he's got 9 points on the night.
Looney with a jam off the no look pass from Poole out of the timeout.
Mitchell with the steal and slam, and the Warriors will take a timeout with 6:43 to go in the half as the Golden 1 Center is on the verge of erupting! SAC are on a 23-8 run in the last 5:17.
Huerter pulls up from the FT line and the Kings are rolling on the offensive end.
It's raining threes in Sacramento as Mitchell drills another three ball! That's five for the Kings in the quarter!
Curry at the line for the first time tonight, and he hits both FTs.
Thompson with a rim run and gets the left handed lay up to go as the shot clock buzzer sounded.
Huerter joins the three point party in this second half, and that's four in the quarter for SAC after going 1/13 in the first quarter!
MONK WITH HIS THIRD THREE BALL IN THE SECOND QUARTER!!!!
Golden State call a timeout just two minutes into the quarter, after losing the lead.
Monk with another three ball and he's starting to heat up in this second quarter!!!
Poole off the dribble, drive left, and finishes off the glass.
Len on the pick and roll and he goes right at Green with the jam
Monk starts the quarter with a pull up three from the top of the key!
The first half comes to a close with the Warriors leading by 6.
The Kings went just 1/13 from three point range, and turned the ball over nine times. Golden State didn't do any better hanging on to the ball, they turned it over 9 times as well.
Green's got 7 and Curry has 5 for GS, while Fox leads the Kings with 7 while Sabonis has 4.
Wiggins with a steal on the inbound and he lays it up for the easy deuce.
Fox finally hits a three for SAC, who missed their first 10 of the night!
Poole at the line after the foul on Len and he hits both FTs.
Huerter gets into the lane and gets the pull up fade away to go.
Interior pass to Green to Payton II out of the timeout and that led to an easy two handed jam for GP2.
Timeout Warriors with 3:23 to go in the first quarter.
MItchell pull up from the elbow and hits the jumper for his first points of the night.
Steph strokes the three ball in the corner after the kick out from DiVencenzo!
Sabonis was swarmed by Warriors down low, flipped it up underneath, got the bucket and the foul! FT is no good.
Looney on the slip screen and Thompson found him streaking for the jam!
Green was left wide open in the corner after the kick out from Thompson and he splashes the three ball!
Timeout Kings with 6:38 to go in the first quarter.
Dump off from Curry to Green on the baseline and he connects on the lay up.
Green quiets down the crowd with a lay up in the lane.
Fox strips Curry and goes coast to coast for the slam! GS turnovers are letting the Kings get easy buckets on the other end.
Barnes picks up the loose ball at halftime and goes straight to the iron for the jam!
Thompson picks it up off his shoe strings and drill the first three ball of the night!
Barnes released Fox after the rebound and that led to a wide open fast break slam
Curry in the corner and he hits the long two to get his night going.
Sabonis goes right at Looney and finishes off the glass for the game's first bucket!
GAME 2 IS UNDERWAY FROM SACRAMENTO!!!
Fox and Sabonis headline the same Starting Five that Mike Brown went with last game. Fox is looking to improved upon his incredible playoff debut and Monk will be coming off the bench after his 30+ performance in Game 1.
It took just one game for Andrew Wiggins to be reinserted to the Starting 5 for Steve Kerr. He came back in Game 1 and looked like he hadn't missed a beat despite being sidelined for two months. He is on the floor with Steph, Klay, Trey and Looney
Quick start, cold finish for Sabas
Domantas Sabonis is a top three center in the league, behind Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, but the Lithuanian struggled in Game 1 after getting off to a hot start. He had 8 points and 7 rebounds in the first quarter and ended with 12 and 16 rebounds which being objective are pretty damn good numbers, but he couldn’t buy a bucket in the final three quarters. That will come as a comforting fact for the Kings, who saw in Game 1 they have a deep enough squad to be able to win games even if their All-Star isn’t at his very best every night.
The UK Connect
Kings fans should have been thanking their lucky starts that the University Kentucky basketball program exists on Saturday night. UK alum had all 35 points in the final 12 minutes of the game to secure the win for the Kings. Fox and Monk both had 15, and Harrison Barnes added a big couple of buckets late on to lead Sacramento to their first postseason victory in a very, very long time.
Wiggins back for Warriors
Andrew Wiggins returned to the hardwood on Saturday after not playing since before Valentines Day. He was put under a minutes restriction as the Warriors looked to work him back into game shape through the series, but he looked like one of the most in form players on the court in Game 1. He played 28 minutes, which was more than the 20-25 he was supposed to get in his return. He had 17 points and 4 blocks after missing the last two months, and had a chance to put the Warriors up with a corner three deep into the fourth quarter but missed as the Kings held on for the win. Having Wiggins only makes this GS better, and the longer this series goes on the more dangerous he will become.
Golden 1 Center
The 17 year playoff drought was ended on Saturday, and it couldn’t have been more evident in the Golden 1 Center. These famished fans were at the top of their lungs for all 48 minutes, and the place was shaking as Fox led the Kings past the Warriors to take Game 1. Don’t believe it for a second if you think that this crowd will be any calmer or quieter tonight against the defending champs.
De'Aaron's debut
De’Aaron Fox made his playoff debut on Saturday, and he looked like a season vet in the post season. Perhaps he showed a bit of nerves in his opening two quarters, but once he had a chance to let the game come to him, he was unstoppable. He scoerd 38 points in his first playoff game, with 29 coming in the second half. There are great things to come from the former Kentucky Wildcat, but can he replicate or better that performance tonight to send Sacramento to Golden State up 2-0?
Curry looking for a comeback
Steph Curry was his usual extraordinary self against the Kings in Game 1, and made a couple of nearly impossible threes to keep the Warriors in the game after scoring just 10 in the first half. Don’t be surprised to see him come out firing from the start tonight in Sacramento, looking to get this crazy Kings crowd out of the game from the get go.
Game 1 recap
It was Domantas Sabonis who got the Kings off to a quick start in Game 1, and it’s a good thing he did because he would go silent for the rest of the way. Jordan Poole took over in the second half and gave the Warriors a six point lead in a first half in which Andrew Wiggins made his return after two months away from the team due to personal reasons. De’Aaron Fox scored just 9 points in the first half and with Sabonis disappearing, it was Malik Monk having up big of the bench with 15 first half points. Fox took the spot light out of the gate, scoring 14 in the third quarter, bringing the Kings back from a double digit deficit after the break, and the Kings went into the final quarter with a slight lead after a 15-4 run to the end third. Monk and Fox carried the Kings to the finish line scoring 30 of the final 35 Sacramento points in the 126-123 win.
We are live from Sacramento
Hello everyone and welcome to Sac Town where the Kings are riding high after winning Game 1. It didn’t come easy, but this team that hasn’t even whiffed the playoffs in almost two decades looked poised, calm and collected at the end of a game against a team that is defending their title, and looking for a fifth championship in the last decade. The all important Game 2 starts in less than an hour, and the Warriors will be desperate to steal one on the road while the Kings are hungry to head to the Bay with a chance to close out the defending champs on the road.
Warriors vs. Kings: Game 2
It’s Game 2 from Sacramento, and the Kings are coming off their first playoff win in 17 years looking to make it two straight against the Golden State Warriors from Golden 1 Center. AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s can’t miss matchup.