Golden State Warrior guard Stephen Curry (30) gets congratulations from daughter Riley at the completion of game four of the NBA Playoffs against the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center in San Francisco on Sun Apr 23, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors beat the young and talented Sacramento Kings 126-125 Sunday afternoon at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The game had everything a fan could want. The Warriors needed the win to even the series. The Warriors knew that a loss would have Sacramento in the driver’s seat with three games to one advantage, and the next game would be on their Kings’ homecourt in Sacramento.

The fans of both teams knew that each team could put points on the board in a hurry. The Kings and The Warriors were the top two scoring teams in the NBA. The defending NBA champs, the Warriors, had to find a way to defend the upstart Kings.

The Warriors found a way last Thursday when they held the Kings under 100 points. The Warriors did that without their best defensive players, Draymond Green and Gary Payton II. Green was suspended for one game, and Payton was too ill to play. The Kings had to find a way to slow down the Warriors offense. The Kings had an advantage as their head coach Mike Brown had been an assistant head coach with the Warriors for the past six years and was familiar with the Warriors offense.

All that was left to do was play 48 minutes of basketball. The teams performed at a very high level. The first half featured two high-octane offenses going at each other. The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox, coming into his own this season, paced the offense in the first half with 21 points.

Rooke Keegan Murray helped out the Kings’ attack with 15 points. Both Murray and Fox made three threes in the first half. The Kings won the first quarter 31-29. The Warriors fought back in the second period. With the score tied at 49, the Kings went on a 7-0 run to lead 56-49.

Sacramento increased the lead to nine, 60-51. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson helped the Warriors close the gap to one, 66-65. Murray made a three, and the Kings finished the first half leading 69-65. Both teams went to the locker room, feeling they could win. The fans needed the break to relax from all the intensity they felt from the players on the floor.

The Warriors emerged from the halftime break with one objective. Shut down the Kings’ offense and outscore them in the third quarter. Over the many years they have been in the playoffs, the Warriors have owned the third quarter. The Warriors knew if they would demoralize the Kings.

Sacramento had not been in the playoffs for 16 years. The Kings’ players were experiencing playoff basketball for the first time in their careers. How would they handle the pressure? The intensity is ramped up in these games. The Warriors fell behind by seven early in the third quarter when former Warriors forward Harrison Barnes connected on a three.

The Warriors then outscored the Kings 37-20 to finish the third quarter leading by ten, 102-92. Curry and Jordan Poole led the Warriors in the period. The Warriors defense, led by Green and Andrew Wiggins, put the clamps on Fox for those 12 minutes. 

The fans were standing at the start of the game’s fourth quarter. The fans also knew a ten-point lead could be overcome. Fox, the NBA’s Jerry West Clutch Performer of the Year, was ready to attack. The Warriors assigned Green to defend him, and the quarter started with Sacramento going on a 7-0 run to close within three points of the lead, 102-99.

Sacramento kept the pressure on and took the lead 107-106 on a Malik Monk bucket. That was the last time that Sacramento would lead. 

Curry made the next two baskets for the Warriors to make it a 110-107 game. The Kings came back to within a point, 118-117. The Warriors pulled away to lead by five, 126-121. With 43 seconds left to play and Curry with the ball, Curry called a timeout.

There was only one problem. The Warriors were out of timeouts. The referees awarded the Kings a technical foul and possession of the ball. Sacramento made the technical free throw, and Fox connected on a three to close the gap to one, 126-125. With ten seconds left, the Kings had control of the ball. They had to make a bucket or go to the free-throw line to win the game. The Warriors’ defense held, and the Warriors evened the series at two apiece with a thrilling one point win.

Game Notes: The Warriors had five players in double figures. Curry led the parade with 32 points. Thompson had 26, Poole 22, Andrew Wiggins 18, and Green with 12. Green had ten rebounds to complete a double-double. Kevon Looney tallied eight points and pulled down 14 boards. The Warriors, on defense, had 51 rebounds, eight steals, and six blocked shots. 

The Kings had four players in double figures. Fox led the Kings with 38 points. Murray had 23, and he made five threes. Monk had 16, Davion Mitchell 12, and Domantas Sabonis finished with 14. Sabonis had seven rebounds and eight assists. 

The teams are off until Wednesday night, when they play game five of the series will be played at the Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento. The game will start at 7 pm.