Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan (10) takes a shot over the Golden State Warriors guard Dennis Schroder (71) in the second half at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Wed Jan 22, 2025 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
Wednesday night, the Sacramento Kings (23-20) outlasted the Golden State Warriors (21-22) 123-117 after a lackluster first half of basketball. DeMar DeRozan had a 19 point third quarter and finished the game with 32 points. The Kings have not lost a game at home since Doug Christie became interim Head Coach. Every starter for Sacramento had double figures in a sparkling second half of basketball.
Game recap: The Kings got a bit of a slow start in the opening 12 minutes of play. The Kings finally got it together and going into the second quarter Golden State had taken a 24-20 lead. The Warriors continued to stay on top of the Kings hitting over 52% from downtown while the Kings were struggling at only 38%.
Sacramento was yet to heat up from beyond the arc in fact the Kings starting lineup was struggling to hit their stride at all. With a little over seven minutes left in the half, the Warriors had taken an 13 points lead 44-31.
Doug Christie was forced to take a timeout looking to stop the bleeding. The Kings were missing far too many open shots continuing to drag offensively. The Warriors took a 17 point lead into the locker room at the half 65-48.
By halftime Domantas Sabonis was the only King in double digits with 14 points and the Warriors Andrew Wiggins and Stephen Curry each had 12 points. Golden State had outscored the Kings 41-28 in the second quarter.
Going into the second half, Sacramento needed a much improved offensive effort. They were protecting the ball well with only five turnovers but were falling flat from beyond the arc as well as points in the paint. They were also struggling coming away with only two offensive rebounds.
Mid-way through the third quarter the Kings made a push cutting the Warriors 17 point lead to ten 64-74. With 4:21 left in the quarter, Sacramento still trailed by ten points 69-79. Domantas Sabonis clocked another double double with 18 points and 14 rebounds with nearly four minutes left in the third quarter.
All of the Kings starters with the exception of De’Aaron Fox had double figures. Fox was really struggling only hitting six points and one rebound. The Kings continued to trail by ten points looking to get into single digits.
With under two minutes left in the quarter the Kings had indeed cut the Warriors lead to single digits 80-85. Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr called a time-out with 1:14 left in the third. The Warriors had eight turnovers in the third quarter alone in eleven minutes of ugly basketball. As the third quarter came to an end this game was tied at 85 and the Kings had erased a 17 point half-time Warrior lead. DeMar DeRozan had scored 19 third quarter points.
The Kings started the fourth quarter by taking their first lead since the early moments of the first quarter 87-85. The Warriors answered right back with a slew of three’s taking back the lead 99-92. Golden State had hit 19 three’s to the Kings eight.
Sacramento answered and took a six point lead with 6:44 left in the game but the Warriors came roaring back with a couple more three’s and the game was tied once again. With 1:30 left on the clock the Kings had a 117-113 lead and this game was going down to the wire.
With 1:07 left in the game clutch player De’Aaron Fox gave the Kings a 119-113 lead. The final was 123-117 in favor of Sacramento in a game of constant fourth quarter lead changes.
After a slow first half, the Sacramento Kings really turned it on. DeMar DeRozan had the game high with 32 points and 5 rebounds. Domantas Sabonis had a double double with 26 points and 18 rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox had a couple of clutch shots in the final minutes of the fourth quarter finishing with 14 points and five rebounds. Malik Monk had 20 points and Keegan Murray finished with 13 points in one amazing second half of basketball.
The Warriors did a great job containing De’Aaron Fox in the first three quarters but he turned in eight points in the final quarter as Sacramento won their third game in a row.
The Warriors had a banner night from beyond the arc hitting 22 but it was just not enough to get past the surging Kings.
Game recap: Wednesday night a Northern California battle took place at Golden 1 Center between the Kings and the Warriors. The Kings are currently in seventh place in the Western Conference after climbing out of a 12th place position. The Warriors sit in 11th place.
The Warriors took the court without the services of Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga on Wednesday. Green is dealing with a mild calf strain and Kuminga is suffering from a lateral right ankle sprain. The Kings played this game without injury. Sacramento continued their win streak at home not having lost a game under interim coach Doug Christie. They picked up their third win in a row and their ninth win out of 11 starts.
There will not be a whole lot of down time for Sacramento after Wednesday night’s game. They hop on a plane Wednesday night heading out to Denver for a matchup with the fourth place Nuggets Thursday night. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 6:00 PM. The Kings will be in search of their fourth win in a row.
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