Golden State Warriors Pick Up First Win Of Season Against Rival Sacramento Kings
After a disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns on opening night, the Golden State Warriors looked to bounce back against a talented Sacramento Kings squad. Despite the Kings having extra motivation coming off last season’s playoff exit at the hand of the Warriors, Curry and company held them off, winning 122-114 and notching their first win of the season.
The Warriors clearly came out the gates with the agenda to move the ball around, as they chalked up assists on their first 9 buckets. Even with the hot start on offense, Sacramento had responses to everything. Stretch forward Sasha Vezenkov hit two massive threes late in the first quarter to tie the game at 24 apiece before De’Aaron Fox got the rim for an easy layup and and cashed in a step back trey to give the Kings a 29-24 lead to end the first quarter. The Kings started the second with a quick 6-0 run before the Warriors kicked it into gear. Curry hit an and-1 and followed it up with a three ball. A few minutes later Gary Payton got an easy layup before following it up with a corner three. Finally after a vintage CP3 midrange jumper and a Kuminga three to beat the buzzer, the Warriors were up 60-57, having finished the quarter on a 36-22 run after the Kings initial 6-0 burst.
As per usual, the Warriors dominated the third quarter. In the first couple minutes, Curry cashed in three threes and a midrange jumper while Klay chipped in with a deep one and Wiggins got to the rack for a nice floater. Still though, with six minutes left in the third, the Dubs only led by 5 points as Keegan Murray hit two clutch jumpers and Harrison Barnes got to the paint for an easy dunk. But to end the quarter, it was the splash bros who took over yet again. Curry hit an and-1 three as well as a short jumper, while Klay cashed back to back three pointers and a midrange jumper to end the quarter. With one period to go, the Warriors had a comfortable 99-84 lead. It was smooth sailing for most of the fourth as the lead got up to 19 at one point, however with just over 5 minutes left, Fox went on a tear scoring 20 points to make things interesting. But with 43 seconds to go and the Warriors hanging on to a 120-112 lead, Curry iced the game with three from downtown and hit his iconic “night-night” celebration.
Steph Curry paced all scorers with 41 points on an efficient 14-19 from the field and 7-10 from beyond the arc. Thompson also had an efficient 18 points on a 7-12 clip. CP3 recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 assists while Looney finished two points shy of a double-double with 8 points and 12 boards. Off the bench Moody and Kuminga both chipped in with 10 and 12 points respectively while Saric and Payton put up just 5 and 7 points. On the other side, De’Aaron Fox dropped 39 points while Sabonis grabbed 18 rebounds and put up 19 points. Kevin Huerter was a let down as he went 0-5 with 0 points, but Vezenkov picked up some slack with a solid 10 points on 4-6 shooting. The Warriors as a whole shot much better from deep this game going 14-32, though they turned the ball over 19 times which is something they will need to take care of moving forward.
They will fly to Houston tomorrow and take on a mediocre Rockets team. Draymond Green will likely be a gametime decision, but regardless of whether he plays or not I predict the Warriors pick up another win by a score of 127-111.