Malik Monk converted 2 TOs from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green into a series of individual points, helping the Sacramento Kings sink the Warriors despite being 24 points down at times.
Forced to win by at least 12 points against the Sacramento Kings to reach the quarterfinals of the NBA In-Season Tournament, the Golden State Warriors created a relatively safe gap thanks to a 24-point lead in the second half.
But then everything completely fell apart for Stephen Curry and his teammates, especially in the last minute of the match when the Kings completed the comeback with Malik Monk’s personal show.
The Golden State Warriors fell bitterly to the Sacramento Kings despite having a 24-point lead at one point
There were three notable runs made by Sacarmento players in this In-Season Tournament group stage match.
First was a series of 14-3 scores to narrow the gap from 24 points to 13 in the third half. Then there was a 19-6 run to completely erase the Warriors’ lead, putting the Kings up by 1 point in the end. midway through the fourth quarter (score 110-110).
Golden State then responded to increase the lead to 123-118 before entering the final minute of the fourth quarter, but this effort set the stage for a 6-0 run that ended the game for the Sacramento Kings.
Video: Two disastrous turnovers by Draymond Green and Stephen Curry set the stage for the Sacramento Kings to win a spectacular comeback
Malik Monk converted two turnovers from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green into two scoring phases, including a beautiful step-back 3-pointer and a fade-away shot in a difficult position.
After Monk’s 5 points in 30 seconds, Stephen Curry had a chance to correct his mistake on the final ball. Unfortunately, the ball’s “chef”‘s 3-point shot only bounced off the basketball rim.
The match ended with a score of 124-123, a well-deserved comeback victory for the Sacramento Kings even though at one point they were 24 points behind.
Malik Monk caused trouble for the Warriors with two “clutch” scoring situations, taking advantage of Green and Curry’s two turnovers perfectly.
De’Aaron Fox led the Sacramento Kings with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter each contributed 21 points.
Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins had a good game for the Warriors, each pocketing a double-double of 29 points and 10 rebounds. Klay Thompson finished the game with 20 points and 6-14 FG, of which 18 points and 5-8 FG came from the first two rounds.
Stephen Curry and De’Aaron Fox each scored 29 points, creating a beautiful competition between the two top defenders in the West.
This was Draymond Green’s first match after serving a 5-game NBA suspension for strangling an opponent. Having to play away from home, every time Draymond touched the ball, he was fiercely booed by Sacramento Kings fans.
Although Green tried hard to play the role of spiritual leader for the team, he and his teammates could not fill the hole left by Chris Paul and Gary Payton II. These two players both had to leave the field early due to injury, in the first and third halves respectively.
Draymond Green reappeared but still could not help the Golden State Warriors improve their performance, having now lost 8 of the last 10 matches