Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings played a very close and thrilling game that went down to the final five seconds before Klay Thompson made the go-ahead bucket to win 117-116 at Oracle Arena on Saturday night.

The Kings, under coach Dave Joerger, are no longer the laughing stock of the Western Conference. The Kings entered the game with a record of 10-8. Buddy Hield, Willie Cauley-Stein, DeAaron Fox, and Marvin Bagley III are the nucleus of the Sacramento offense. The Warriors, still without Steph Curry and Draymond Green, knew that it would not be easy to beat Sacramento, and it wasn’t.

Both teams played a very competitive first period. Sacramento won the quarter 29-28. The Warriors’ Kevin Durant committed five turnovers in the first period. Nonetheless, The Warriors were down by just one point before the start of the second quarter.

The Kings continued to play well in the period. They finished the first half with a four-point lea 64-60. The Warriors ended the quarter with an 8-2 run.

In the third quarter, the Warriors took command and outscored the Kings 35-29 to hold a 2-point lead at the end of three-quarters of play. The fourth quarter would be a fight to the finish. The Kings won the quarter 23-22 and lost by a single point 117-116.

Game Notes and Stats: Kevin Durant had a double-double with 44 points, and 11 rebounds. He also recorded seven assists.

Klay Thompson had his second night in a row with over 30 points. He finished with 31 and his bucket with 5 seconds left in the game won it for the Warriors.

“I don’t know if I got fouled, but who cares I got the putback,” Thompson said. “You’ll take a game-winner any way you can get it I don’t care how ugly it is.”

Warriors’ center Damian Jones played well Saturday night. He knocked down 13 points and had 6 rebounds.

Up Next: The Warriors host the Orlando Magic on Monday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 pm PT.