ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Sacramento Kings ( – ) were in town to face the Golden State Warriors (28-1).
The Warriors were without Harrison Barnes (left ankle sprain), Leandro Barbosa (left shoulder sprain), and Kevon Looney (hip surgery rehab). The Kings were without Willie Cauley-Stein and Eric Moreland due to injuries.
1st Quarter – Things Go Downhill After Draymond’s T
Draymond Green got off to a hot start, hitting two threes and going coast-to-coast for another bucket.
One of the threes was from up top after Stephen Curry offered an up-fake on his man and dished it off to the open Green.
The second occurred after Curry saw Green switched onto by Rajon Rondo on the pick-and-roll that saw Rudy Gay end up on Steph. Curry lobbed the ball to Draymond, but it was a tad too far towards the baseline, but Green recovered and fired a laser to Andrew Bogut.
The ball went through Bogut’s hands and Brandon Rush found the ball in his hands. By then Draymond had drifted to the left corner. Rush delivered it to Green and he drilled the corner triple.
Klay Thompson also was in rhythm early, as he made a spin on the baseline then a hesitation to free himself for a short fade-away, plus a three from the same left corner as Green’s, after Bogut swatted Ben McLemore on a drive and Curry delivered the assist in transition:
Defense leads to offense for #Warriors, who have jumped out to a 19-12 lead over Kings w/ 5:25 left in 1st quarter. pic.twitter.com/RN1BUW8oUB
— KNBR (@KNBR) December 29, 2015
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Later, Bogut got two blocks in one Sacramento possession, which led to one of two straight jumpers by Thompson, which put Golden State up, 23-13, with 4:45 to go in the first frame:
What's better than one block? (@csnauthentic) pic.twitter.com/jaJnhvuLYv
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) December 29, 2015
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However, Bogut soon picked up his second personal foul and, after Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton picked up a technical while complaining to referee Monty McCutchen, Festus Ezeli got a banker to fall then not only drew a second personal on DeMarcus Cousins, but also got a dunk in transition as Curry stole a bad pass from Darren Collison and threw a post pattern bullet to Andre Iguodala, who dropped the dime to Ezeli.
But an entry pass to Green posting up against Rudy Gay was stolen by Gay and Draymond picked up a foul on the chase of the ball.
Green had some extra words for McCutchen and picked up a technical as well…
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…and the momentum Golden State had picked up all but went away.
The Kings went on a 10-0 run thanks to free throws by Gay on Green’s foul, an Omri Casspi three, a Cousins inside bucket, and another triple by Gay.
The Warriors would miss five more field goals in a row before Shaun Livingston got a jumper to end the drought, but their quarter ended on a whimper as Gay got an easy layup assisted by Collison after Green missed a three before Livingston’s made bucket, and the Kings held a 29-27 lead after one period despite shooting just 35.7% (10-for-28).
2nd Quarter – Curry vs Casspi?!?
Things kept going downhill as Walton rolled the dice by inserting James Michael McAdoo, who fared well and added the expected energy to a lifeless Warriors squad, such as this block…
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…but the other four didn’t make a dent, as Casspi hit a three, a free throw, and Collison added a layup.
Suddenly, the Kings had a seven-point lead, 35-28, with 9:13 to go in the second stanza, before McAdoo got an alley-oop from Iguodala.
But the Golden State bricks continued to fly as Klay came back in but missed a jumper, Ian Clark shanked a left corner three too hard and, after Casspi converted the in-transition trey from the top, the Kings owned a 41-30 lead with 7:14 to go in the half as Walton called timeout.
Walton subbed Curry and Green back in, going with a “small ball” lineup of Steph, Klay, Clark, Livingston, and Draymond.
Marco Belinelli made an ill-advised jump-pass that Livingston deflected. Curry outlet to Thompson on the run and Klay left a bounce pass for Clark, who dunked the ball through:
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Then Green hit a three from the left wing on a side out of bounds that freed Curry, who got doubled and dished a behind-the-back flip to the open Draymond.
The Warriors reduced the deficit to 43-39 with 5:17 to go and Kings head coach George Karl called timeout.
Karl inserted Steph’s little brother, Seth Curry, and after Green got a layup and Steph missed a pull-up three over his brother, Draymond made a very bad pass that ended with a Casspi dunk at the other end, then Klay got past the perimeter, only to leave a drop pass for an opponent, and Gay got a jumper as the Kings went back up, 47-41.
A little three-point duel between Steph and, of all people, Casspi ensued, as Curry went with a step-back three after mesmerizing Collison, Curry’s first bucket of the game, to halve the lead to 47-44…
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…but Casspi came right back with a triple from the top to go back up by two possessions.
Casspi got another triple to drop from the left wing as Rondo pushed the ball and dished it back out of the collapsing Warriors defense.
Thompson missed a left-corner three, Steph bothered Casspi on the rebound, Casspi saved the ball from the baseline straight to Iguodala, who found Steph back in the corner for three more…
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…then used a Green drag screen on the next possession early in the shotclock, but Casspi came right back again with a pull-up three off the dribble to once again go back up by six, 56-50.
Of course, Steph would not be out-done and followed that up with a pull-up from the deep wing…
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…but, incredibly, Casspi answered once more with a three from the top!
The next time down, Steph went for the traditional two by squirting past Quincy Acy for a finger roll…
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…his brother Seth then missed an in-transition left corner trey attempt, Steph corralled the rebound at the Kings’ free throw line, advanced past half-court, and pulled up again from the top, to make it 59-58, Sacramento:
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But at the buzzer, Collison drilled a pull-up jumper that rattled in, and the Kings took a 61-58 lead into halftime.
Casspi had amassed 26 points on 7-for-9 from deep. Steph tallied 17 points, 6 assists, and an amazing 10 rebounds, while Green also had 17.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors instagram account via @micheleymoo)
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