The Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) laid out and the Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sobonis (10) standing battled for the basketball at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Sun Nov 13, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Sacramento Kings turned the tables on the Warriors Sunday night as they beat the Warriors 122-115. The Kings and Warriors played for the third time this season. The Warriors won the first two and hoped to make it three in a row over Sacramento. The Kings wanted to exact a measure of revenge as they lost by three points last Mondy night in San Francisco. The Kings felt the referees blew a call on the last shot of that game. Had the call been made, the Kings could have tied the game.

On Sunday night, Kings’ coach Mike Brown wanted his team to find a way to bottle up Warrior guard Stephen Curry. Curry scored 47 last Monday night, and Brown wanted his players to make life miserable for Curry. The Kings’ defense held Curry to 27 points in the game. Their strategy was to make the other Warriors beat them. It worked.

In the first quarter, the Warriors, led by Curry’s 13 points, finished with a 13-point lead, 39-26. Things did not go well for the Warriors in the second quarter. Mike Brown inserted his sixth man, Malik Monk, into the game. Monk’s play lit a fuse on the Kings’ offense. Everything went their way. The Warriors did not play well on defense. They turned the ball over too many times. The Kings went on a 21-7 run to take the lead 47-46. Sacramento outscored the Warriors 38-23 to finish the first half with a slim two-point advantage, 64-62.

The Kings knew the Warriors loved the third quarter. Brown’s guys found a way to slow down the Warrior attack. The Warriors scored the first six points in the period. Curry made a four-point play. Draymond Green a deuce. The Warriors led 68-64. Sacramento didn’t wilt. They answered and outscored Golden State by five to lead by seven, 98-91, at the end of three periods.

Sacramento led 107-98 when the Warriors went on a 13-2 run to take the lead 111-109 with 4:19 seconds left. There was a lot of time left in the game to play. The Kings, led by Domantis Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox, went on a 9-0 run to lead 119-113 with 2:03 left. The Warriors missed three or four three-point shots down the stretch. Sacramento held on to win 122-115.

Game Notes- The Warriors lost for the seventh time on the road. They have yet to win a game away from home. They are now 5-8. The Kings improved to 6-7.

Curry led the Warriors with 27. Curry made three threes in nine tries. Curry did not score a point in the second quarter. The Kings held him to 14 in the second half. Andrew Wiggins finished with 26. Jordan Poole had 18 for the second straight game. Klay Thompson added 17. The Warriors shot 46% from the floor and made 16 threes in 46 attempts.

Sabonis almost had a triple-double, 26 points, 22 rebounds, and eight assists. De’Aaron Fox came to life in the second half and finished with 22 points and eight assists. Malik Monk had 12. Rookie Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter knocked down nine threes for the Kings. Murray finished with 21 points. He hit five threes. Huerter had 17, and he made four threes. The Kings were 51% from the floor and 43% from three-point range. They outrebounded the Warriors 54-46.

The Warriors return home to face the San Antonio Spurs Monday night at the Chase Center. The game will start at 7 pm.