Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors, still smarting from a one-point loss to the Houston Rockets last Thursday night, traveled to Sacramento to face the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center Saturday evening.

The Kings, under coach Dave Joerger, are no longer the sad sack Kings. Joerger has worked wonders with his young team. They entered the game with a record of 19-19, and they had split the two games played against the Warriors so far this season. The Kings play an uptempo game and love to make three-point shots. The Warriors knew that they would have their hands full with the Kings and that what exactly what transpired during the game. The two teams set an NBA record with 41 three-point shots made in a game. The Warriors made 21, and the Kings made 20. The Warriors prevailed 127-123 as they figured out a way to play defense in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors, with the score tied at 22 in the first quarter, went on a 15-0 run to lead 37-22. The Kings woke up, but the Warriors still finished the quarter leading 43-29. The Kings outscored the Warriors 40-27 in the second quarter and trailed by one 70-69 at the end of the first half. Both teams were making three-point shots. The Warriors connected 12 times, and the Kings made 11. Steph Curry knocked down four three-pointers. Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook each had three. The Kings’ Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovich each had three. Klay Thompson had 17, Kevin Durant 13, and Quinn Cook added 10. Bogdanovic finished the first half with 15, Justin Jackson 12, and Nemanja Bjelica 10.

The Kings continued their torrid shooting in the third period. They outscored Golden State 34-26 to end the period with a seven-point advantage 101-96.  The Kings’ Buddy Hield made five threes in the period, and his total for the game was eight, which was a career-high for him. The Warriors continued to commit turnovers while the Kings did not at this point in the game.

The Warriors had their work cut out for them if they wanted to win. They had to play defense, and someone had to step up and lead the offense. The Warriors showed the Kings why they are the reigning NBA champs as they held the prolific Kings offense to just 20 points in the fourth quarter. Curry showed the Kings why he was awarded two NBA MVP awards as he scored 20 of the teams 31 points in the final 12 minutes to lead the Warriors to victory.

Game Notes and Stats: The Warriors improved to 26-14 while Sacramento dropped to 19-20. Curry led the Warriors with 42 points, and he connected on 10 3-point shots. Durant had 29 point, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists. He made three threes, too. Klay Thompson had 20 and three threes. Quinn Cook had 10. Draymond Green finished with 12 points, 7 boards, and 7 assists.

The Kings’ Buddy Hield finished with 32. He made eight threes, but the Warriors throttled him in the fourth quarter as he failed to make a three in the final stanza. Justin Jackson, coming off the bench for Sacramento, ended the night with 28 points. He knocked down five threes. Bogdanovic had 17, Willie Cauley-Stein 14 points and 13 rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had 12 for Sacramento.

The two teams set an NBA record for threes made in a game. The Warriors were 21 for 47 while the Kings were 20 for 36. The Warriors’ defense had 5 steals and 8 blocks. The Warriors turned the ball over 13 times. The Kings committed just one turnover in the first half, but the Warrior defense caused them to commit 7 turnovers in the last 24 minutes of play.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the New York Knicks Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. Game time is at 7:30 pm.