Field Level Media
Dec 15, 2018
The Golden State Warriors countered a 10-0 Sacramento run with a 17-2 game-ending flurry Friday night, allowing the two-time defending NBA champions to escape with a 130-125 victory over the host Kings.
Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 35 points, Kevin Durant had 33 and Klay Thompson 27, helping the Warriors bounce back from a 113-93 embarrassment at home against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night with a second consecutive narrow victory over their Northern California rival.
Buddy Hield had 27 points, De'Aaron Fox 25 and Willie Cauley-Stein 22 for the Kings, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
After leading by 13 late in the third quarter, the Warriors found themselves in a 113-113 tie before Cauley-Stein completed a three-point play and Hield bombed in a 3-pointer, triggering a 10-point Kings spurt that opened a 123-113 lead with just 4:23 to go.
But the Kings scored just two points the rest of the way, while Durant, Curry and Thompson combined for all 17 in Golden State's game-winning run.
Durant drew the Warriors even at 123-all with a pair of free throws with 1:03 remaining, before Fox countered with Sacramento's only hoop of the late going, a jumper with 46.8 seconds left that put the Kings up one last time, 125-123.
But Thompson immediately responded with a go-ahead 3-pointer, and Curry capped his 35-point night with four clinching free throws to account for the final margin of victory.
Draymond Green had game-highs in rebounds with 14 and assists with 10 for the Warriors, who needed a two-game sweep in Sacramento last season just to salvage a season-series split with the Kings.
Nemanja Bjelica chipped in with 18 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic 12 for the Kings, who outshot the Warriors 46.9 percent to 45.8 percent and matched them with 15 3-pointers.
--Field Level Media