Fox, Monk prove clutch to sink Golden State Warriors in Game 1

Having missed 25-straight games to close the regular season, it was hard to ask much more of Andrew Wiggins in his return to the floor in a hostile environment. But unfortunately for the 28-year-old, his positive performance finished with a missed corner three as the Golden State Warriors fell to the Sacramento Kings in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Despite a couple of gettable misses to close the game, the Warrior offense was largely efficient in the back-and-forth game. Kings guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk were simply better in the second-half, notching up 70 combined points to punctuate Sacramento’s return to the playoffs.

The Golden State Warriors allowed 71 second-half points as the Sacramento Kings rolled past the defending champions in a electric 126-123 win.

Golden State had got the slight better of Sacramento late in the opening half, taking a 61-55 lead behind Jordan Poole’s 13 points and an excellent return from Wiggins. In an uncustomary role coming off the bench, the 2021 All-Star had 12 points, three rebounds and three blocks on 5-for-8 shooting across the first 24 minutes.

The Warriors would extend the lead to ten by late in the third, but they would come to regret a lapse period with their superstar Stephen Curry on the bench. The reigning Finals MVP left the game with Golden State up eight with 2:18 to play, only to return with Sacramento up four at the 9:20 mark of the fourth.

Curry worked hard to keep his team in it as the Warriors regained a 114-112 advantage with four to play, but at that point the Kings, particularly Fox and Monk, had found their offensive mojo. With Sacramento up one, Klay Thompson found a wide open Wiggins in the left corner with ten seconds left, but his potential game-winner was off the mark. After Monk sunk two free-throws on the other end, Curry missed a good look to send the game to overtime at the buzzer.

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Fox finished with a dominant 38 points, while Monk had 32 off the bench. Curry (30) and Thompson (21) combined for 51 points, though they’d come to rue the lack of a more defining impact earlier in the game.

Kevon Looney was huge guarding All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, holding the Latvian to 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting. Sabonis did have five offensive and 16 total rebounds though, with the Kings winning the rebounding and turnover battle in what proved the most decisive factors of the contest.

There’s plenty of upside for the Warriors — Wiggins and Poole slowed down in the second-half, and they ended up shooting 32% from deep as a team. The same could be said for the Kings though, particularly with how deplorable Sabonis was offensively.

Steve Kerr’s first task will be orchestrating a better plan to combat the explosive pairing of Fox and Monk who ultimately outplayed the more distinguished Warrior guards. It’s hardly panic stations for the Warriors, especially given the enormity of the night felt setup for a positive Kings result. But for a team that’s struggled on the road all season, Golden State won’t want to go down 0-2 heading back to Chase Center.