San Francisco (AP) First, Draymond Green suggested Warriors coach Steve Kerr bench him for Game 4 against the Sacramento Kings after Golden State played brilliantly without him.
Then on Sunday’s break, two assistant coaches pitched Kerr the idea that Green should defend De’Aaron Fox in the last two quarters.
Those collaborative moves helped undo a late blunder, and now the defending champions are all tied for the first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Stephen Curry scored 32 points but gave Sacramento a late chance when he said Golden State had no timeout, then the Warriors held on to beat the Kings 126-125 on Sunday when they Harrison Barnes missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“These games go down the wire, and you just have to finish your possessions and try to give yourself the best chance, and sometimes, it’s just, do you get in the ball or not,” Kerr said.
Fox scored 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Sacramento. 3 him with 28.7 seconds left pulled the Kings on one, then Curry missed a 16-foot jumper on the other end and Keegan Murray topped the recovery. With Curry and Green defending, Fox conceded to ex-veteran Barnes for a potential triple win, which hit the back of Edge.
“Wide open,” Barnes said. “Fox trusted me to take this picture. Back Edge. To the next day but I feel confident where we are.”
Golden State led 126-121 with 42.4 seconds left when Curry called an excessive timeout, and The technical free throw was made by Malik Monk for Sacramento.
Game five of the best-of-seven series takes place Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, with the Kings leading 2-0. The Warriors have struggled on the road all year.
“As good as that sounds, it must be quickly forgotten,” said Thompson.
Curry’s 3 with 4:10 remaining gave Golden State a 121-117 lead and finished 11-for-22 with 5 3s while dueling all afternoon with Fox.
After Monk’s layup made it 107-106 Kings with 9:03 to play, Curry responded with a layup and 3 in a 14-second period.
Green came off the bench after serving a one-game suspension while the Warriors dominated Game Three on Thursday without him. Given the momentum and success, Kerr stuck Jordan Paul at Start Five Sunday.
“I’m a firm believer if something ain’t broke don’t fix it,” said Green.
He made a great behind-the-back pass to Curry 3 midway through the fourth, then hit a shot by Domantas Sabonis with 1:37 left.
Green, who was chastised for stomping on Sabonis’ chest in the fourth quarter of Game 2, scored to a standing ovation with 6:38 left in the first quarter and ended up with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He and Fox caught a technical double at the 5:43 mark of the first.
Sabonis added 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and now he heads home intent on bringing the Kings closer to winning their first playoff series since eliminating Dallas in the first round of 2004.
“We made some mistakes at the right time, especially in the fourth quarter,” said head coach Mike Brown. “This is where our inexperience with the addon comes in because you can’t rest in there, or you can’t think you can play something a certain way and the champions won’t pay you.”
Paul scored 22 points, Andrew Wiggins added 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, and Kevon Looney pulled in 14 rebounds with eight points and six assists.
Murray hit a 3-point run with a left at 10:43 to shut out the Kings to within 102-99 after a 7-0 break to start the fourth after a 3 by Thompson to finish the third put the Warriors ahead 102-92. Brown commanded his young star to “let him fly,” and Murray shone under the pony lights, scoring 23 points.
Thompson driving and trolling is something Kerr referred to as the success of opening the floor in Game 3 and Thompson went in and found Moses Moody for baseline 3 late in the first. Golden State moved the ball with quick passes that created an open look.
Murray shot 9 for 13 with five 3s after going 1 for 8 in 3 and 3 in 13 in his first three matches.
“I just tried to be more aggressive during the qualifiers and I knew in the end I was going to take a step on the attacking end, so it’s just a matter of time and I’m confident,” Murray said.
Curry scored 32, and the Warriors overcame his late error to beat the Kings, even the series 2-2 appeared in the original NBCSports.com