Kings-Warriors live updates: Stephen Curry’s historic 50-point performance leads Golden State
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Final: Warriors 120, Kings 100
Stephen Curry turned in a virtuoso performance to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 120-100 victory over the Kings in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series Sunday at Golden 1 Center.
Curry finished with 50 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who will advance to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. Curry made 20 of 38 field-goal attempts and 7 of 18 from 3-point range.
A sellout crowd of 18,253 chanted “SAC-RA-MENTO” to the bitter end as the final seconds rolled off the clock. The Kings bowed out of the playoffs after pushing the Warriors to seven games in their first postseason appearance since 2006.
Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Kings. De’Aaron Fox had 16 points and six assists with five turnovers. Malik Monk and Terence Davis came off the bench to score 14 points apiece.
Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and seven rebounds for Golden State. Warriors center Kevon Looney finished with 11 points and 21 rebounds, his third 20-rebound game of the series.
Read more of our coverage from Golden 1 Center here.
Third quarter: Warriors 91, Kings 81
The Warriors took a 59-58 lead on a 3-pointer by Curry at the start of the second half. They went up 69-62 on a layup by Curry at the 7:50 mark in the third quarter, prompting the Kings to call a timeout to stop a 13-4 run.
Murray got a basket coming out of the timeout, but the Kings couldn’t keep Golden State off the glass. The Warriors grabbed 13 offensive rebounds over the first eight minutes of the third period after finishing the first half with two. They had three offensive rebounds on one possession, which ended with Looney scoring on a putback to give Golden State a 73-64 lead.
The crowd grew restless when a corner 3-pointer from Jordan Poole put the Warriors up by 12, but the Kings cut the deficit in half on a series of driving layups by Fox, Monk and Murray. They got within five on two free throws by Fox a moment later, but a four-point play by Thompson with 1.4 seconds remaining put the Warriors up 91-81.
Halftime: Kings 58, Warriors 56
Sacramento started the second quarter with a four-guard small-ball lineup, putting Fox, Monk, Davis, Huerter and Lyles on the floor together.
The Kings gave the Warriors trouble with Lyles as a small-ball center in their 118-99 victory in Game 6, but this was the first time they went to a four-guard look. When the Warriors took a timeout to discuss what they were seeing, the Kings countered by subbing Sabonis back into the game in a traditional lineup with Lyles at power forward.
Sacramento went up 47-42 on a basket by Sabonis with 6:01 to play in the half. Golden State tied the game following a 3-pointer and a floater from Curry, but the Kings reclaimed the lead on another 3-pointer by Davis.
The pace of the game might have taken a toll on Warriors center Kevon Looney, who averaged 14.2 rebounds over the first six games of the series with two 20-rebound performances. Looney labored up and down the floor and later grimaced while reaching for his left foot during a dead-ball situation.
The game was tied following a basket by Andrew Wiggins with 3:34 remaining, but baskets by Fox and Sabonis gave them a 58-56 lead at the halftime break. The Kings made good on their promise to push the pace, firing up 50 shots in the first half after taking 99 in Game 6.
Stephen Curry leads all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Sabonis has 16 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Kings.
First quarter: Kings 31, Warriors 30
Kings guard Kevin Huerter drilled a 3-pointer behind a screen from Domantas Sabonis on Sacramento’s opening possession. That seemed like a good sign for Huerter, who shot 16% from 3-point range over the first five games before coming alive in Game 6.
The Kings led by five 90 seconds into the game, but they found themselves trailing 18-12 after going 5 of 13 from the field and 1 of 5 from 3-point range over the first six minutes. Sacramento went to a three-guard lineup late in the first quarter with De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Terence Davis, Trey Lyles and Sabonis.
Davis immediately knocked down two 3-pointers to tie the game. Fox and Lyles followed with 3s of their own to give the Kings a 31-30 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Draymond starts
The Golden State Warriors are moving Draymond Green back into the starting lineup for Game 7 of their first-round playoff series against the Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr hinted at a change during his pregame news conference, noting that his team lost the rebounding and turnover battles in a 118-99 loss to the Kings in Game 6 on Friday at Chase Center.
“I think the biggest thing is the emotional approach and understanding the strategy,” Kerr said. “We’ve talked about it over and over again. It’s taking care of the ball and rebounding. We got beat in those areas the other day, so there are some things we’ll do differently today that I won’t mention right now for obviously reasons.”
Barkley: Kings will win
NBA analyst Charles Barkley predicts the Kings will beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 on Sunday at Golden 1 Center and go on to reach the Western Conference finals.
Barkley made his prediction on TNT after the Denver Nuggets defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their semifinal series Saturday night.
“They’ve got the best team. They’re going to win,” Barkley said of the Kings when the conversation turned to Game 7 against the Warriors.
Barkley didn’t stop there, declaring: “The Sacramento Kings are going to the conference finals.”
Caesars Sportsbook is listing the Kings as a one-point favorite against the Warriors. Golden State won Games 3, 4 and 5 to take a 3-2 series lead, but Sacramento avoided elimination and forced a Game 7 with a 118-99 victory in Game 6 on Friday.
The Kings are hosting a Game 7 for the third time in franchise history and the second time in the Sacramento era. The Rochester Royals beat the New York Knicks at home in Game 7 of the 1951 NBA Finals to win the franchise’s only championship. In 2002, the Kings lost Game 7 of the conference finals to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fans arrive at Golden 1 Center
Kings at Warriors
When: 12:30 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: ABC
Radio: Sactown Sports 1140
Odds: Kings -1.0
Over/under: 229
Injury report
Kings: OUT — Matthew Dellavedova (finger).
Warriors: OUT — Patrick Baldwin Jr. (toe); Andre Iguodala (wrist); Ryan Rollins (foot).
Schedule
Game 1: Kings 126, Warriors 123
Game 2: Kings 114, Warriors 106
Game 3: Warriors 114, Kings 97
Game 4: Warriors 126, Kings 125
Game 5: Warriors 123, Kings 116
Game 6: Kings 118, Warriors 99
April 30 vs. Golden State Warriors
