Sacramento Kings Prevail 98-93 Over Golden State Warriors

Kings Beat Warriors For The 2nd Time This Season On The Road

Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Hield, right, looks to dribble around Golden State Warriors' Shaun Livingston at The Oracle in Oakland, Calif. Publicity Agents photo art by T. Ray Harvey. March. 16, 2018.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Oakland, Calif. —

The Sacramento Kings are not winning a lot of ball games this season. Their 2017-2018 record defines that fact. But if a team is without key players due to injuries, the Kings do see that as an advantage.

Teams are finding out that beating the Kings is much tougher in those situations. And they don’t care if they are playing world champions.

The Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 98-93 with some gritty plays in the fourth quarter at the Oracle. Buddy Hield led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists of the bench for the Kings (23-47).

Skal Labissiere scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, eight in the final quarter for Sacramento. Bogdan Bogdanovic had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal. All 10 of the Kings that played contributed five points or more.

In addition to the victory on the road, where the Kings are 11-25 this season, the Kings have beaten the Warriors on their home turf both times this season. No other team in the league has accomplished the feat.

“Our guys are fighting and playing a competitive game,” Kings head coach Dave Joerger said. “Two get two wins here in the same season is a feather in these guys’ hats. I’m really proud of them for that and they’ve competed and practiced all year long.”

Point guard Quinn Cook had 25 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals for the Warriors (52-17). Draymond Green added 14 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and two blocked shots. Nick Young had 16 points.

The Warriors were out the services of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Patrick McCaw, and Kevin Durant. Durant is expected to be out for two weeks for an incomplete rib cartilage, the team announced.

Curry, right ankle sprain, and Thompson, fractured right thumb, will both be evaluated next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

The Kings trailed by 11 points in the first quarter, but bounced their way back to lead 50-51 on two free throws by Garrett Temple with 4:25 left in the second quarter. Golden State mounted a 7-1 run, including a 3-point basket by Cook to lead 55-52.

The Warriors outscored the Kings 9-6 the rest of the way to lead 59-57 at the break. The Warriors mad 22 of 37 shots from the field at 59.5 percent while the Kings made 20 of 40 from the floor at 50 percent in the first half.

Both teams combined to make 18 of 31 shots from behind the 3-point line in the first half. The Kings made 10 of 18 shots behind the arc while the Warriors connected on 8 of 13 attempts in 3-point land.

It took three minutes and 10 seconds before either team got in the scoring column in the third quarter. Justin Jackson made a layup for the Kings to break the ice and tie the game 59-59. By the time the third quarter was over the game knotted at 75-75.

After three leads and one tie, Draymond Green made a 29-foot trey to tie the game at 93-93 with 50 seconds left to play in the game. After Hield made one of two free throws, Green missed a 31-foot try. Hield got the rebound and made the next two at the charity stripe.

Cauley-Stein blocked Young’s 3-point shot with 8.3 seconds left, it was recovered by Hield who gave it back to the Cauley-Stein for a two-handed slam dunk that sealed the victory.

De’Aaron Fox didn’t have a foxy game. He had six points, two assists, and three turnovers in nearly 26 minutes. When he was on the bench for a spell, Dave Joerger put him back in the game with 3:43 left to play.

After the game, Fox said he didn’t want to go back in because he didn’t think he was helping the team’s cause. Smart move by Joerger. The Kings were trailing 90-87 when Fox made a 13-foot driving floater, and then made a 20-foot pull-up shot to the give the Kings a 91-90 margin.

“De’Aaron Fox is a good player. He’s a great player,” Cook said. “He’s going to have a great career in this league.”

PUBLIC INFORMATION:

| Sacramento Kings head coach Dave Joerger won his 201th game. Joerger’s current coaching record is 201-192.

| The Kings’ defense was in order for the Golden State Warriors. They got rebounds when it counted and blocks when they needed them. Garrett Temple’s slapped Quinn Cook’s lay up off the glass with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter may not have been a game-changer, but it was a strong message.

| Golden State Warriors had (eight) consecutive home victories, their longest streak of the 2017-2018 campaign.

| Completed their 12th and final back-to-back set of the season. Golden State holds a record of (9-2) this season game of back-to-backs.

| Draymond Green had two career blocked shot in the fourth quarter to give him 500. Green became the eighth player in Warriors history to reach 500 blocks.

By T. Ray Harvey | PA Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist

Twitter: Tony Ray Harvey @PublicityAgents

Email: infopublicityagents@gmail.com

T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.