SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — D’Aaron Fox scored 38 points in his long-awaited playoff debut as the Sacramento Kings celebrated their return to the postseason after a record-breaking 16-year drought by defeating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 126-123 Saturday night.
It was the first playoff meeting between the Northern California neighbors to live up to the hype and captivate the boisterous crowd that had been waiting for a playoff since 2006.
The inexperienced Kings finished strong against a Warriors team that had won four titles in the previous eight seasons.
After Stephen Curry hit a three-pointer to give Golden State a 114-112 lead with about four minutes left, the Kings responded with seven straight three-pointers from Fox, who led the league in clutch points in the regular season.
The Warriors didn’t go far and cut the deficit to one on a layup by Curry in the final minute. But Andrew Wiggins missed a layup 3 to take the lead in the dying seconds of his first game in over two months.
Malik Monk made two free throws to make it 126-123 with 2.9 seconds left. Curry missed a 3-out runner at the buzzer, giving the Kings their first playoff win since April 30, 2006, against San Antonio.
Monk finished with 32 points off the bench, while Domantas Sabonis had 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Curry led the Warriors with 30 points, Klay Thompson added 21 and Wiggins and Paul scored 18 each.
It was a festive environment in success-hungry Sacramento as fans gathered outside the arena hours before the start of the Kings’ playoff game after playoff game. NBA record drought lasted 16 years.
The arena was so deafening starting with pre-game practices that some fans even brought back the cowbells that were so popular during their playoff runs two decades ago.
The excitement seemed to take its toll on the inexperienced Kings, who struggled with hitting the ball early on. Sacramento missed the first seven 3-pointers, shooting just 39.2% in the first half, and Golden State trailed 61-55 at the half.
The Warriors advanced to 10 points in the third quarter, before Sacramento ended the quarter with a score of 15-4, supported by ten points from Trey Lyles, to advance 91-90 in fourth place.
The return of wiggins
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins showed few signs of rushing in his first match In more than two months after leaving the team to deal with an undisclosed family matter.
Wiggins came off the bench after starting his first 657 games in the NBA and made an immediate impact. His first shot attempt was blocked, but he recovered again for a block of his own on the defensive end.
The only thing missing from his game was the outside shot where he was 1-for-8 from 3.
Tip-ins
Warriors: Golden State opened a series on the road for the fourth time in 25 playoff series under Steve Kerr. The Warriors won Game 1 and the series in the 2018 Western Conference Finals against Houston and Round 2 against Memphis last season. Golden State lost the 2019 Finals opener and series to Toronto.
Kings: Monk’s 15 points in the second quarter was the most for a Sacramento reserve in a single quarter of a playoff game since at least 1997. …the Sacramento players missed their first 15 3-point attempts before Fox kicked a single point late in the game. Third quarter,
the next
Game two is Monday night in Sacramento. The Warriors haven’t trailed 2-0 in a playoff series since the second round of the 2007 playoffs against Utah.
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