Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis is defended by the Golden State Warriors forward Kevon Looney (5) during the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Tue Nov 28, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors (8-10) squared off against the Sacramento Kings (10-6) for the third time this season. The Warriors won both heavily contested games. Tuesday night’s game was another thriller, but the Sacramento Kings turned the tables on the Warriors as they returned from a 17-point halftime deficit to nip them 124-123.

It was truly a tale of two halves. The Warriors scored 72 points in the first two-quarters of play. The Warriors big three of guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had their game going. Wiggins tallied 18, Thompson 17, and Curry 16. The Warriors had the Kings on their heels.

At one point in the first half, Golden State led by 24. Sacramento rallied late in the second period to finish the first half trailing 72-55. The Warriors held Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox to nine points. The only scorer in double-figures for Sacramento was Harrison Barnes, a former Warrior, with 12.

As fans of the NBA know, good teams can overcome a big deficit. The Kings have a high-powered offense led by Fox and Sabonis. The Warriors contained Sabonis for the entire game but did not have an answer for Fox, Kevin Huerter, or Malik Monk. The Kings’ head coach, Mike Brown, a defensive specialist, had his team ready to slow the Warriors’ offense in the third quarter.

The Warriors did score 32 points, but the Kings put 40 on the board to trail by nine, 104-95 at the end of the quarter. The Warriors helped the Kings as they continued to commit too many fouls. The Kings had 20 free throws in the period. The Warriors were also sloppy as they turned the ball over too many times, not only in the third quarter, but two late turnovers in the last 50 seconds of the fourth quarter cost them the game.

The Kings outscored the Warriors 29-19 in the fourth quarter to win. The Kings continued to chip away at the Warriors advantage. The Kings went ahead 111-110 late in the quarter. It was their first lead since early in the first quarter. The Warriors answered the challenge to take the lead by six, 121-115.

Fox hit a three to cut the lead to three. Andrew Wiggins made a two-point bucket to make it 123-119. With about 50 seconds left, Curry made a bad pass that led to the Kings making it a one-point game, 123-122. The Warriors had the ball. However, Draymond Green made another turnover. The Kings took the ball down and scored to go ahead 124-123. The Kings’ defense held to give them the victory.

Game Notes- With the loss, the W’s drop to 8-10. The Kings improved to 10-7. The Kings are now the top seed in their division for the in-season tournament.

The Warriors lost Chris Paul after the first quarter to soreness in his leg. Gary Payton II had to leave the game with a leg injury.

Wiggins and Curry led the team with 29 points each. Klay Thompson finished with 20. Moses Moody had 11, and Dario Saric ten.

Fox had 29 points and ten boards for Sacramento. Huerter and Monk each added 21 points. The Kings went to the free-throw line 42 times. They scored 26 points off Warrior turnovers.

The Warriors return home to the Chase Center to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. The game will start at 7 p.m.