SACRAMENTO – It certainly didn’t matter to the fans in and around Golden1 Center Tuesday night that the game between the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors was technically a disappointment for both organizations.
Sure, neither team expected to be in a 9/10, single elimination play-in game a month ago, let alone back in October when the season first tipped off. But as Mike Brown said after Sunday’s regular season finale, “any time you can play after your last regular season game, it’s a positive.”
The sellout crowd was certainly enthused during introductions, even as a scattering of Warriors fans tried to have their voices heard amongst the fired up Sacramento crowd. There were certainly cheers when Draymond Green connected on a three for the game’s first points, but when Keegan Murray drained two of his next three attempts from beyond the arc, the enthusiasm shifted back to the home team.
Fans had another reason to cheer when Mike Brown won an early challenge, and when Murray hit his third three of the first quarter just moments later you thought the roof might come off the arena all together. After Keegan scored 11 of the Kings first 13 points, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis began to assert themselves. The trio combined for all but five of Sacramento’s 31 first quarter points, but the bench made their presence known as well, highlighted by a Trey Lyles corner three and a pair of Davion Mitchell offensive rebounds that led to Murray’s fourth three pointer of the first frame.
The first play of the game was for Murray, and he stayed aggressive throughout.
“The first play was for me, and we kind of just kept going to that early in the game,” Murray said. “I just kept being aggressive, even when I was missing shots. When my shot is falling, they just always seem to find me.”
Fox was more coy in his evaluation.
“We ask Keegan to be aggressive all the time, Fox said. “Obviously Keegan is a different guy, you all see that. We tell Keegan not to smile because every time he smiles, he misses.”
Holding a 31-22 lead after the first 12 minutes, Sacramento continued to turn up the defensive intensity in the second quarter. The teams combined to miss their first eight attempts from the field, a streak finally broken by Harrison Barnes, who connected from the corner for a three that forced a Steve Kerr timeout.
Down 13, the Warriors started to make a run. Momentum began to shift after Lyles was somehow called for a foul on an offensive rebound despite having position over two Warriors, and the refs started to whistle Golden State back into the game. A 7-0 Warriors run cut the Kings lead to eight before Sabonis went to work inside, scoring a contested layup between Moses Moody and Green and grabbing a board on the other end that led to a Keon Ellis three.
That’s when Jonathan Kuminga showed up.
The second year forward went on a personal 6-0 run to cut Sacramento’s lead from 14 to 8 with 3:25 to play in the half, forcing Brown to call a timeout to stem the tide. Kuminga missed his next two attempts but drew a foul on the third, hitting both free throws to cut the lead to six.
Fox and Ellis connected on points in the paint, but Sacramento struggled down the stretch in the second, scoring just six points over the final 3:25. Sacramento took a 54-50 lead into the break as the officials seemed content to let the Warriors be physical with the Kings on one end while blowing a much softer whistle on the other. It didn’t help that Sacramento was just 20-52 from the field and 8-22 from deep, despite getting mostly good looks.
As has been the case throughout the season, the third quarter would define Tuesday night’s result.
Steph Curry, who had been held to just five points in the first half, came out attacking in the third, scoring the first five points for Golden State as they forced the issue to get him going. Fox matched him beat for beat though, dropping four straight for the home team. He got upset after not getting a call against Green on a layup attempt and committed a frustration foul against Curry on the other end, and it felt like the Kings might begin to lose their composure. But as he did in the first quarter, Murray turned the tide, hitting his fifth three of the game to push the Kings’ lead back to seven, 64-57.
The lead was nine when Sabonis picked up his fourth foul as he attempted to defend a Curry drive. In a spot the Kings had often folded this season, they tried to rise above.A 10-2 run pushed the lead to 15 before a Curry four-point play stemmed the tide. But the Kings kept pushing, kept attacking, and kept getting timely shots from their stars.
But the Warriors kept finding new and entertaining ways to stay in the game.
With 5.6 seconds to play, Moses Moody launched a deep three against an Alex Len closeout. Len made contact after the shot; though it appeared he was trying to stop his momentum to avoid a foul, he was slapped with a flagrant for “covering too much ground”. Moody missed two of his three free throw attempts though, and Curry’s buzzer beater was partially blocked, limiting the damage on the play and giving the Kings a 91-76 advantage heading into the final quarter.
Twelve minutes for their season, how would the Kings respond?
“We know, historically, they’re very good in the third quarter,” Murray said. “Our attention to detail in the third quarter was big.”
A 6-2 run – with Fox on the bench – to start the fourth forced a Warriors timeout, and with the Cowbell Cam on the big screen, the crowd throttled up. The vibes were excellent, but there was still a palpable sense of nervousness in the building.
But unlike a year ago, this time the Kings were coming for the crown.
Yes, it’s just a play-in. And yes, Sacramento would need another win to officially enter the playoffs. But for a tortured franchise that had watched their brothers from the Bay Area soar to dynasty status while they languished in something worse than obscurity, Tuesday night was something special.
The Warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight, and curt the Sacramento lead to 13 with seven minutes remaining in the game. But as he had seemingly all night, Murray answered the bell, hitting his seventh three of the game, a shot that served as a dagger, a nail in the coffin, and maybe – just maybe – the shot that ended a dynasty.
Empires don’t often crumble overnight, but more likely erode over time. For 82 games, the Warriors have looked more human than we have seen them in the last decade plus, and over 48 minutes in game 83, the final bricks appeared to be coming down. A turnover here, an offensive rebound allowed there, a missed open three by Steph Curry, and suddenly, it was Sacramento moving on to face the Pelicans.
“I didn’t care who we played, it was about getting a win,” Brown said. “He [Steve Kerr] wanted to kick my ass, our ass, and I wanted to kick his ass, their ass, because they were the team in front of us.”
Fox was asked if his team ended the Warriors’ dynasty with their play-in win.
“I don’t know, that’s the question,” he said. “That’s the question. I don’t know. I was a sophomore in high school watching them win championships. We’ve been watching this team for a long time.
“They’ve been great for the sport, they’ve been great for the basketball world. We’ve all been watching this team for a long time, so if it is the end, it is what it is, but I’m glad we were able to beat this team in this moment. But if it is the end, they’ve had a hell of a run.”
Up 21 with five to play, Sacramento cruised to a 118-94 victory, holding the Warriors under 100 points, forcing 16 turnovers, and winning in nearly every meaningful category in the box score.
Though Curry and Green came into the evening on the marquee, it was Keegan Murray, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and Keon Ellis that announced themself as postseason stars Tuesday night. Murray led all scorers with 32 – including eight three pointers – Fox added 24, Sabonis had yet another double-double, and Ellis was elite against Curry defensively while adding 15 points, five assists, and four rebounds in quite possibly the most complete game of his young career.
“Keon, he’s been great for us,” Fox said. “Everybody is seeing him develop in front of our eyes, and he’s not afraid of the moment. He’s not afraid of the moment at all. He’s stepped up to the plate, he’s been ready, and he’s helping our team win.”
It’s also fitting that after a brutal first half, Harrison Barnes was clutch in the second, scoring 14 points on 4-4 shooting to give him 17 in the game.
“HB, when we needed a bucket, he delivered,” Brown said.
Curry led Golden State with 22 points on 8-16 shooting, with Kuminga and Moody adding 16 off the bench. Green and Andrew Wiggings added twelve apiece as the Warriors shot 41% from the field, 31% from three, had 16 turnovers to just 19 assists, and were out-rebounded 49-42 (15-8 on the offensive glass).
Mike Brown was able to empty his bench with two minutes to play, running out a lineup of Davion Mitchell, Colby Jones, Kessler Edwards, Sasha Vezenkov, and JaVale McGee to close things out. McGee provided the final exclamation point, blocking a shot on one end and throwing down a hammer on the other.
The Kings are still a win away from the “actual playoffs”, but there’s no reason not to celebrate Tuesday night’s win. Will it exorcise some demons? Maybe, but this team isn’t satisfied with just revenge. They want to play on.
“I’m confident in this team,” Fox said. “Especially tonight, we came out and we were ready to play. We know what’s on the line. This was another obstacle in our way. Losing to [the Pelicans] five times in a row, it’s put up or shut up.”
“You want to talk about a monkey off our back… New Orleans, they’ve had our number all year,” Murray said. “It’s a big matchup for us to try and get into the playoffs against a team that’s beat us five times.”
Mike Brown added, “Hell of a win but we’re not done.”
