Warriors Win Pivotal Road Game in Sacramento
Looking to control their destiny for a guaranteed playoff spot, the Warriors secured their 10th road win of the season, defeating the Kings 119-97 in Sacramento on Friday. The Splash Brothers combined for 54 points, as the Dubs outscored the Kings by 17 points in the second half (66-49).
With Friday’s victory, the Warriors can clinch a guaranteed top-six seed in the playoffs by winning their season finale in Portland on Sunday.
Golden State Warriors Highlights vs. Sacramento Kings
Team Leaders
GSW
| Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Thompson – 29 | Looney – 16 | DiVincenzo – 9 |
| Curry – 25 | Curry – 7 | Looney – 7 |
| DiVincenzo – 18 | DiVincenzo – 6 | Curry – 6 |
SAC
| Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Lyles – 15 | Metu – 9 | Mitchell – 5 |
| Metu – 15 | Lyles – 8 | Davis/Dozier – 3 |
| Barnes – 13 | Len – 6 | Holmes/Murray – 3 |
Setting a Defensive Tone Early
The Warriors set a tone defensively in the first quarter on Friday, holding the Kings to just 16 points, tied for the fewest they’ve allowed in a quarter all season and their lowest opponent field goal percentage in the first quarter, 25.9 percent (7-for-27).
Headed into Friday’s game, the 2022-23 Kings were the highest-scoring team over the last 30 seasons, averaging 121.3 points. Conversely, the Warriors have struggled defensively on the road all season, ranking 28th in defensive rating (119.6) away from Chase Center. Nevertheless, the Dubs’ defensive intensity to begin the game showed they were locked in and understood the magnitude of the playoff implications tied to this matchup.
For the game, the Warriors held Sacramento to 38.8 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from 3-point range. Despite the Kings attempting 20 more shots than the Dubs (primarily due to the Warriors’ 24 turnovers), they made three fewer shots, 41-38.
Gary Payton II with the Rejection
Kevon Looney Rebounding Milestones
Kevon Looney leads the league in offensive rebounds (271) and had five more in the first quarter on Friday. After opening the game with a dunk, Looney found both Splash Brothers for 3-pointers, created by his extra effort on the offensive glass. For the game, he recorded seven assists, tying the second-most he’s had in a game this season, only trailing his nine dimes vs. the Sixers on Dec. 16. In addition, Looney had a season-high 13 rebounds in the first half, the most rebounds in a half by a Warrior since David Lee in 2013. If he plays in Sunday’s season finale vs. the Blazers, Looney will be the first Warrior to play the entire 82-game season in back-to-back seasons since Antawn Jamison nearly 20 years ago.
Looney’s Extra Effort Leads to Thompson Splash
Dubs Catch Fire in Third Quarter
The Warriors were scorching hot in the third quarter, shooting 65 percent from the field (11-17) and hitting six 3-pointers. After Kings center Alex Len made a layup, the Warriors went on a 9-1 run to expand their lead to 11. Withstanding an 11-0 Kings run, the Dubs regained control, ending the period with a 13-point lead.
Stephen Curry Relocates and Splashes
Klay Thompson’s 3-Point Streak
Klay Thompson hit five threes on Friday, his sixth consecutive game with at least five triples, a feat no other player has accomplished this season. Thompson led all scorers with 29 points and leads the league in 3-pointers made (295).
Klay Thompson Sinks the 3-Pointer
Up Next
The Warriors can clinch a top-six seed in the 2023 NBA playoffs in their season finale against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday (12:30 pm; NBCSBA).
- Golden State won its season-series vs. Sacramento 3-1… The Warriors have won 14 of their last 18 games vs. the Kings in Sacramento and eight of the last nine overall (home and road).
- The Warriors improved to five games over .500 for the first time this season.
- Golden State won for the seventh time in the team’s last nine games, including three of the last four on the road.
- Tonight marked the third time the Warriors have won by at least 20 points on the road.
- Golden State’s 22-point victory was the team’s third largest on the road this season (behind a 31-point win at San Antonio on 1/13 and a 23-point win at Minnesota on 11/27).
- The Warriors improved to 4-1 when holding their opponent to 99-or-fewer points… The Warriors are 20-2 when holding their opponent to under 110 points.
- Tonight marked the first time this season the Warriors have held their opponent under 100 points on the road.
- Golden State held Sacramento to 97 points, marking the third time this season the Kings have failed to reach the 100-point plateau.
- The Warriors held the Kings to a first-quarter opponent-low 16 points (prev. 19, 11/18 vs. NYK).
- Golden State recorded the team’s league-leading 40th outing of 30-or-more assists.
- Tonight marked the Warriors’ third wire-to-wire victory of the season (leading all game, no ties).
- The Warriors won their first road game of the season when committing 20-plus turnovers.
- Golden State improved to 25-6 when shooting 50{f5ac61d6de3ce41dbc84aacfdb352f5c66627c6ee4a1c88b0642321258bd5462} or-better from the field.
- The Warriors improved to 20-2 when scoring 110-plus points.
- Klay Thompson scored a game-high 29 points, and has recorded 20-or-more in each of his last three games… It marked his 37th 20-point game of the season… He sank five 3-pointers, his sixth consecutive game with at least that many, a career high and the longest-such streak by any player this season… Thompson added to his league-leading 3-point total, now at 295 (Indiana’s Buddy Hield is second with 283)… He would become the third Warrior to lead the league in 3-pointers, joining Stephen Curry (seven times) and Dorell Wright.
- Stephen Curry had 25 points, his ninth consecutive game with at least 20 points (27.9 ppg in that span)… Curry made three 3-pointers to extend his NBA-record 3-point streak to 244 consecutive regular season games.
- Kevon Looney grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds – 13 coming in the first half, the most rebounds he has grabbed in a half in his career, and the most by a Warrior since David Lee had that same amount in the second half on 3/1/13 at BOS… Looney added five offensive rebounds (all in the first quarter) to his league-leading total, now 271… The five offensive boards led to 11 points for the Warriors – 349 points this season have come off of Looney’s offensive rebounds, most in the NBA this season (322 points off of Domantas Sabonis’ offensive rebounds rank second)… Looney played in his 192nd consecutive regular season game, second-longest active behind Mikal Bridges’ 391.
- Gary Payton II tallied a season-high-tying 10 points (while with Portland, had 10 vs. Dallas on 1/14)… He tallied a career-high-tying two blocks (sixth time).