SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (AP) — Stephen Curry scored a career-high 50 points and answered repeatedly to the defending champion’s will in his quest for a repeat, Kevon Looney grabbed 21 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors advanced to first. Western Conference Semifinals by defeating the Sacramento Kings 120-100 in Game 7 on Sunday.
Curry’s points are the most in NBA history in Game 7, topping former teammate Kevin Durant’s 48 in nets against Milwaukee in 2021.
The Warriors trailed 2-0 in the series and then won twice on the road in front of a hostile Cowboys crowd in the state capital to become the first champions to drop the first two games and win any postseason series.
Now bring lebron james and los angeles lakers into the western conference semifinals with all the history of the nba finals with james and golden state dating back to their cleveland days. Game 1 is Tuesday night at the Chase Center.
50 points for CURRY IN GAME 7 🔥
(via @tweet)pic.twitter.com/s1As18WEpI
– Sports Illustrated (SInow) April 30, 2023
Sacramento’s comeback season ended long before these Young Kings planned. After a 16-year drought — the longest in NBA history — under Head Coach of the Year Mike Brown, game-hungry Sacramento earned the No. 3 seed but missed advancing to the second round for the first time since 2004. No More Light Beam At Golden 1 Center this season.
Curry shot 20 of 38 with seven 3rds and was delivered after nearly every big play by Sacramento as brother Klay Thompson’s splash hit both ends again. But Thompson came in at some crucial moments, too.
Malik Monk’s running back and three-point play with 14.6 seconds left in the third pulled Sacramento to within just six seconds for Thompson to make a long 3-point run and convert a four-point play to make it 91-81 heading into the final 12 minutes.
Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, but the Warriors stopped Dearon Fox and he scored 16 points on 5-for-19 shooting in his third game playing with a broken index finger on his shooting hand.
Trailing 58-56 at halftime, the Warriors opened the second half with a 13-4 lead to take a 69-62 lead and force a Kings timeout at the 7:50 mark.
Sacramento scored early with a sweet mix of classic play and comebacks and long jumps swooping across the perimeter.
But Curry kept coming, and Looney flailed around to create second and third chances during his stellar streak on the board.
Curry fired from the way back with precision and fearlessly dribbled to the basket with stunning acrobatics all afternoon to send Kings fans into the rut late in the fourth.
Thompson started 1-for-10 missing his first five seconds before connecting at the 9:18 mark of the third. Golden State, who played only its seventh game under Steve Kerr since 2014-15, was smart after 18 turnovers in Game 6 that led to 23 Kings points and Kerr called his team “wildly undisciplined.”
Kerr had no doubt ahead of the crucial game – and returned to Draymond Green in the starting line-up for Game 7 with the season on the line after the fiery forward came off the bench the previous two contests following a Game 3 suspension for stepping on soapy Domantas.
“These guys are champions, defending champions a year ago, four in the last eight years, and these guys know the deal,” Kerr said. “There’s a sense of confidence and a sense that we’re going to get it done.”
Just before the final buzzer, Kerr gave a long embrace to the Browns — a former Golden State assistant who coached the Warriors during Kerr’s health absence and just led the Kings’ remarkable turnaround.
Color me on the board
Looney finished with 106 rebounds in the series – 37 on the offensive glass. It was his fifth straight game with double-digit rebounds.
In the last five games of the series, Looney grabbed 90 rebounds and 34 on offensive end along with 27 assists.
return time
As all rounds became best-of-seven in 2003, the other two knockout teams that went down were swept 2-0 each — the Heat losing to the Bulls in 2007 and the Mavericks falling to the Thunder in 2012.
Tip-ins
Kings: The Kings outscored Golden State 28-22 in the first half. … After the Sacramento bench outscored the Warriors 52-21 in game six, the Reserves came through again — 25-8 at halftime and 41-18 overall.
Warriors: Curry missed consecutive free throws in the second and Thompson was unable to convert a pair early in the third. Golden State went 19-of-30 from the streak after missing 10 free throws in Game 6 (25-of-35). … Gary Payton II blocked four shots. … The Warriors improved to 3-1 in Game 7s since 2015. Golden State has not appeared in a Game 7 since May 28, 2018, in Houston in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors won to reach their fourth straight Finals en route to a repeat championship. … Golden State improved to 19-0 in the series against Western opponents under Kerr.