Warriors Use Strong Second Half To Defeat Kings

After three days of rest the Golden State Warriors took on the Sacramento Kings at Oracle Monday night. After struggling early on, Golden State used a commanding second-half to notch their 29th win of the season.

The Warriors started off with strong half-court defense that created turnovers. Andrew Bogut set the defensive tone early with two blocks that led to fast break points. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggled from beyond the arc early on, and it was Draymond Green who was hot from deep, making his first two threes.

The Kings faced foul trouble as DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo were forced to sit out with three first quarter fouls, and they did not play the rest of the half. Turnovers allowed Sacramento to keep the game within reach, with the score tied at 23 with 2:38 left in the first. Curry did not score and the Warriors trailed 29-27 at the end of the first quarter. Green and Thompson led Golden State with ten points each.

The Warriors’ second unit started off the second quarter and continued to struggle without any offensive momentum. The Kings took advantage and built their lead to double digits, with the score at 41-30 with 7:13 left to play in the quarter. Golden State eventually cut the lead to two by forcing Sacramento into careless passes and scoring transition points.

Curry did not score until 3:15 left in the second, knocking down a fast break three pointer. This lead to an exciting back-and-forth three-point contest between Curry and Omri Casspi, who were both on fire. Casspi hit seven threes in the first half and led the Kings with 26 points. After missing his first five shots from beyond the arc, Curry connected five straight threes, scoring 17 points in the last three minutes of the quarter. Golden State trailed Sacramento 61-58 at the half.

The Warriors battled back-and-forth with the Kings to begin the second half. After being called for his fourth personal foul, Cousins picked up a technical and after losing his cool, was ejected from the game after picking up his second technical foul. He finished with just seven points and four rebounds.

Immediately afterwards the momentum shifted in Golden State’s favor, and they went on a run to give themselves a 79-66 lead. Draymond continued to be the most consistent player for the Warriors, knocking down his fifth three pointer of the night. Golden State won the quarter 32-14, and led 90-75 at the end of the third.

With a commanding lead Golden State sat their starters and the second unit built a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. Ian Clark, James Michael McAdoo, and also Jason Thompson were able to get some valuable playing time in the final quarter, as Golden State won with the final score 122-103.

Klay Thompson led all scorers with 29 points and Green contributed with 25 points. Stephen Curry had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the MVP notched his sixth career triple-double.

Tale of the Tape

 Warriors

• Field-goal percentage: 48.3% (43-89)
• Three-point percentage: 47.6% (20-42)
• Rebounds: 59
• Assists: 33
• Turnovers: 18

Kings

• Field-goal percentage: 38.9% (37-95)
• Three-point percentage: 41.9% (13-31)
• Rebounds: 48
• Assists: 23
• Turnovers: 14

Good to Know

What’s on Tap

The Warriors travel to Dallas on Wednesday to take on the Mavericks.