Alex Kramers

Team camaraderie and a culture shift culminated in a special season in Sacramento, but Kings players aren’t content with a first-round exit.

Not even 24 hours removed from the end of his first playoff run, De’Aaron Fox, still riding a wave of emotions, pointed to all the positive steps his team took throughout the season and then aspired to resolve unfinished business.

A young group that many pegged to be at least a year away from making any serious postseason noise believed early that they were building something special. Their unity combined with their work over the summer, the grind behind closed doors, when the attention wasn't being paid, is what put them in position to surprise the league and push the defending champions to the limit.

But that taste of the playoffs turned out to be bittersweet, Fox says, making it clear he isn’t satisfied with exiting in the first round and that he’ll use the shortfall as motivation.

“You take that feeling and you build off of that feeling because you don't want to feel that again,” Fox said. “I just feel like that helps you grow as a player, and if you have a lot of like-minded guys in the locker room, that’s what fuels you guys as a team. We’ll just build off of this. We’ll take what we learned throughout the season … You take the hurt that you felt and you become a better team.”

Despite the less-than-happy ending, for Fox, a monumental year had all the elements of a cinematic masterpiece – an underdog story of overcoming the odds, gaining national respect and making history in the process, set to the soundtrack of a rallying call from the crowd and glow of the purple beam illuminating the night sky.

“I think it was almost something out of a movie, just with my life coming together like that,” said Fox, who welcomed his first child, Reign, with his wife Recee. “I definitely think that year 25 for me is probably the best year that I've had in my life. I just want to keep this going. I want to keep this feeling&nbsp; going.”

The All-Star guard isn’t the only one who wasn’t ready for the closing credits on the most memorable Kings season in recent memory to roll. From Kevin Huerter to Malik Monk to Trey Lyles, players up and down the roster found a home in Sacramento, where they clicked on the court and dined together off of it, united by the larger goal of winning and the sense that this is their time.

“Returning is honestly my number one priority,” Lyles said. “The fellowships, the relationships that I’ve been able to create with these guys have been above and beyond anything that I've had in the past.”

Among the highlights for Huerter was the outpouring of fan support inside Golden 1 Center for the climatic first playoff game, when the crowd reached decibels never heard before by anyone in the organization.

“I think a moment I’ll never forget was Game 1, running out onto the court in this building. That was electric, it really was,” Huerter said. “You’re running on and you’re getting chills running down your spine. There was such a build-up for it. You hear about the drought, you hear about how crazy it’s going to be and everybody talks it up, like Sac fans are going to show out. It really was like [that]. We ran out of the tunnel and it was mobbed. We were on the court and there were 18,000 people standing up ready to go.”

That postseason introduction was only the first chapter, a to-be-continued cliffhanger, and as Sacramento prepares for the highly-anticipated sequel, for the first time in a while, it enters the offseason with more answers than questions.

“I think we put everybody [around the league] on notice,” Monk said. “But for us, I think it just may make us lock in even more because we know what we can accomplish and we know what the playoffs feel like.”

Winning Formula: With its speedy point guard at the controls, the Kings record-setting offense hummed like a well-oiled machine, and with dribble-handoff facilitator in Domantas Sabonis surrounded some of the best outside shooters in the league, there's far less talk about what the Kings could become than about what they already are.

That shift began with Mike Brown, the first unanimous Coach of the Year recipient in league history, who was instrumental in building a winning culture and provided invaluable influence by encouraging players to be themselves.

“As soon as he came here, he said he wants to change the culture,” Monk said. “When me, him and Kev met, he said the same thing to us, and we wanted the same thing. His voice was just so big for us this year and his experience, because he'd been through so many different things in so many different time frames, just helped us a lot.”

Under Brown, players embraced them and put the team’s needs ahead of their own. With a rotation of core players who couldn't be more dependable, Sacramento possesses balance and high-level chemistry honed over months of team workouts and 89 games together.&nbsp;

“I feel like as the year went on, we got better and we learned each other's tendencies more; what players like and whatnot,” Sabonis said. “To start the year with knowing all that already and adding things in summer is going to be very helpful. And the coaching staff knowing your tendencies, [us] knowing them, it's going to definitely help, especially with summer coming up.”

Rookie Duties: Keegan Murray, the No. 4 pick in the Draft, not only set a league record for most three-pointers made by a rookie in the regular season (206), but was the only first-year player across the league earning significant minutes in the playoffs.&nbsp;

The level of maturity, poise and confidence he showed in year one impressed many around the league, and in a sign of what’s to come, the Iowa product racked up points from not just behind the arc, but by finishing off cuts, in transition and on drives in the playoffs.

“He's been amazing,” Sabonis said. “Even as the series went on, he got his confidence back and wasn't only shooting threes. He was dribbling and getting into traffic, shooting floaters, mid-range shots, all these tough shots that he hasn't really been doing all year. So that's something you can see and expect for next year, for him to be more active with the ball. That's going to open a lot of things for us.”

Still, Murray wasn’t immune to the required rookie duties bestowed by the veterans, and fulfilled each task without complaint.

“I picked up Chick-Fil-A every away game, so I [spent] $300 every single road trip,” Murray said with a rare smile. “So that I kind of hurt. But they're cool with everything that I did; a bunch of little stuff I had to do. They're good people.”

Next Steps: A glistening 48-34 record, powered by its ability to put points on the board, is more likely Sacramento’s floor rather than its ceiling, but what the regular season indicated and the playoffs amplified is that defense needs to take precedence.

“Everybody has their nights where they're not going to shoot well, but just as a team defense, we need to show more consistency on that end,” Fox said. “You don't want to be one of the bottom five teams in defense throughout a season and then just expect it to turn around in the playoffs … We just need to show defensively that we can be a much better team.”

Both Fox and Sabonis have more defined individual offseason goals, as well, recognizing their own shooting limitations and inconsistencies which contributed to Sacramento’s playoff outster.

“Obviously,&nbsp; my shooting; I have to have confidence going out and shooting that [mid-range] shot,” Sabonis said. “If [the Warriors] respected my shot more, we probably would have been [playing the way] we did all season instead of the big playing back off me. So that would’ve helped us a lot.”

To withstand the grind of a lengthy season that stretches from October to late April and beyond, and the demands of their turn-on-the-jets offense, conditioning and endurance will be among other areas of priority.&nbsp;

“To continue to get better in my role, I think that’s going to be a big focus for me this summer: to be in really good shape,” Huerter said. “I think going into next year, my movement within our offense, you have to really be in good shape and this series showed it.”

Coming Soon: Fox and Sabonis played through far more than standard wear and tear over the course of the season, but remarkably missed only 12 regular-season games between them (none in the playoffs).

No. 5 won’t need an operation on his broken index finger and expects the digit will be fully healed within two to three weeks. Sabonis will visit a hand specialist to determine if the avulsion fracture in his right thumb will require rest or surgery, but regardless of the course of action, the big man is already itching to return to the hardwood and to help push his team deeper into the postseason.

“It's never a relaxing summer,” No. 10 said. “I always can’t wait to get back in the gym and start working and preparing.”

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Rising Kings Eager to Take Next Steps

Despite falling to the Warriors in the deciding contest, Kings players held their heads high and looked to build on what they accomplished during the postseason.

The familiar, sing-song chants of “Sac-ra-mento!” rang out inside Golden 1 Center in the closing minutes of an already-decided Game 7, as one final ode to a special Kings team that brought fans so many smiles with an offensive punch and hustling pace that overwhelmed even high-quality defenses.

The sharp and experienced Warriors ultimately provided too harsh of a test, but despite the outcome, Kings players and coaches held their heads high at pushing the defending champs to the brink of elimination. There was some deflation and heartbreak in their voices, but there was much more pride and a collective focus on how they’ll return stronger next season after their introductory learning experience in the playoffs.

“Being at the age that we are, you have a lot of basketball left to be played,” said De’Aaron Fox, who averaged 27.4 points and 7.7 assists in his first postseason. “You’re entering your prime, you want to have the best years of your basketball career coming up. Losing to this team, you just learn from it. You take everything that they did to us, that they taught us, you try to be better at those things and just continue to work at it.”

The Kings made the defending champions work early, racing to a five-point lead in the first quarter and holding a two-point edge at the half. But Stephen Curry carried himself with his trademark swagger to begin the third, penetrating the heart of the defense and unleashing an onslaught of deep perimeter bombs that have long been his forte, while Kevon Looney seemed to have his hands on every ball that bounced off the iron.

For Sacramento, it was a rare night when Fox couldn’t reciprocate Curry with a fourth-quarter barrage of his own, when Malik Monk’s shots weren’t falling cleanly through the net, and when Domantas Sabonis wasn’t the game’s biggest force in the paint or on the glass.

“It’s going to sting for a long time, but you have to come back ready from the get-go, from training camp,” Monk said. “I definitely want to be playing again at this time next year [...] You can’t dream of anything like this unless you’re doing it.”

Mutual Respect: After being faced with the unenviable task of finding ways to slow down Fox from driving the lanes, whipping passes all over the court, and at times, single-handedly controlling the series, Draymond Green and the Warriors left the hard-fought battle with a deeper appreciation for the Kings All-Star.

“I wanted to pay my respects,” Green said regarding his post-game words with No. 5. “We’ve been in a lot of playoff series against a lot of guys, and if I’m honest, you leave with less respect for a lot of guys … There are some you gain respect for. Fox is one of those guys.”

Best for Last: Sabonis was at his All-NBA best in the series finale, backing and muscling his way in the paint, running the floor and finishing in transition, and exhibiting the tremendous dribble-handoff chemistry he perfected with Monk and Keegan Murray throughout the regular season. When the Warriors dared, practically begged Sabonis to beat them from mid-range, Sacramento’s center did just that, too, drilling a pair of 19-footers. Sabonis led the team in points (22, on 10-of-16 from the field) and assists (seven), while snagging eight rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.

Key Stats: The Warriors racked up 13 offensive rebounds, seven by Looney, in the third quarter, keeping multiple possessions alive and preventing Sacramento from ramping up the pace. With Golden State content to burn the clock with a methodical, walk-the-ball-up game in the second half, the Kings finished the game with only two fastbreak points.

Turning Point: In the words of Monk, “Steph being Steph; that’s it. Kudos to Steph.”

Even though head coach Mike Brown pulled out all the stops once again, implementing new lineups and scheming defenses to try to slow down the red-hot Curry, Golden State showed precisely why it won last year’s title. That first-hand look at how championship teams respond to adversity, Brown says, will benefit Sacramento in the long run.

“Obviously, we wish we were still playing, but this is part of the sport,” Brown said. “We’ll be better from this experience going forward. Our guys are definitely hurting right now, which obviously they should be. But I have a lot of gratitude for every man in that locker room.”

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De’Aaron Fox, Kings Use Game 7 Loss as Learning Experience

With their backs against the wall, the Kings stunned the defending champions on the strength of De’Aaron Fox’s playmaking, Malik Monk’s firepower and a small-ball lineup.

Win or go home, backs against the wall, no tomorrow were amongst the descriptions of Sacramento’s plight by its coaches and players after dropping three in a row to the Warriors. But while many teams talk the talk but wilt in pressure situations on the floor, the Kings were unfazed by an elimination game on the road, against an opponent with all the experience, all the history, all the momentum on its side.

Davion Mitchell predicted his team would “punch them in the mouth first,” and the Kings did just that, bullying and battling their way to an 8-0 start with elite balance on both sides of the ball, ducking every Golden State counter, sending blow after blow, and finally, delivering a knockout late in the fourth quarter.

At the center of the ring were, as they’ve been all series, De’Aaron Fox, unhampered by his broken finger, and Malik Monk, the dynamo sixth man, pinning the Warriors on the ropes. Each proved yet again that he’s all-but unguardable, knifing into the paint for floaters, taking advantage of switches and cross-matches to get open from mid- and long-range, and drawing whistles on the way to the cup.

The devastating duo combined for 54 points, 15 assists and four steals, vibrating with energy against a lethargic Warriors team that couldn’t flip the switch they’ve become so accustomed to flipping.&nbsp;

“We wanted to hit first, hit second, hit third, hit last, and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” said Fox, who was a plus-20 in his 37 minutes. “Especially with our pace, I feel like we were in control basically the entire game tonight. From start to finish, I feel that this is probably the best game that we’ve played this year.”

With the series shifting back to Golden 1 Center for a winner-take-all Game 7, there’s no shortage of confidence in Sacramento’s corner and no shying away from the brightest of spotlights.

“It’s a big opportunity,” Fox said. “Everybody doesn’t get to experience a Game 7, and not a lot of people get to experience a Game 7 in Sacramento […] It’s going to be rocking.”

“I just know I’m going to go out there and [give] 110 percent, give it my all and continue to do what I’ve been doing; that’s attacking the rim and making plays for my teammates,” Monk added. “I’ll be ready.”

X-Factors: So often, the outcomes of critical playoff games are swayed by role players who deliver their biggest performances, who maximize every opportunity when their team needs them most. With Domantas Sabonis in foul trouble for much of the night, the Kings relied on depth and a small-ball lineup that outpaced and confounded the Warriors.

Inserted to space the floor, Trey Lyles thrived as the backup center with 12 points on 10 shots, nine rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes, during which Sacramento outscored the Warriors by nine.

“We felt going small with the guards we have, they can get downhill, and we can play-make,” said head coach Mike Brown. “Trey gave us that flexibility. For us, we do want to play as quickly as we can, we want to keep pushing the ball. That’s how we played all year. In order to beat teams in the playoffs, we need to play faster.”

Although he was the least experienced player on the floor, Keegan Murray was no less confident in his ability to impact the game, firing away from deep on his way to 15 points, collecting 12 rebounds, and perhaps just as importantly, drawing a pair of charges in a team-high 45 minutes.

And in a system in which any player can be the X-factor on any given night, Kevin Huerter rediscovered his touch from long range, connecting on three triples after making four in the previous five games combined.

“He’s just got to keep shooting the ball,” Brown said. “Making shots, you feel good about that. He’s continued to take them like he did tonight. Give him credit, because there’s a confidence level you have to have to be where he is, and he had it tonight.”

Turning Point: Sacramento led from the opening minute of the second quarter until the final horn, but Golden State trimmed the lead to five with under four minutes to go in the third. In a game-, and perhaps series-defining 40-second sequence, Monk found Fox for a corner three-pointer, blocked Jordan Poole at the rim and then sprinted down the floor to knock down a triple of his own to effectively shut the door on a Warriors comeback attempt.

“They’ve been doubting us all year; they said we weren’t going to be here,” Monk said. “We’re just here to prove everybody wrong.”

Key Stat: In stringing together its most dominant postseason outing, the Kings – the best road team in the West during the regular season – held the decisive edge in nearly every major category, from paint points (44-36) to offensive rebounds (18-11) to fastbreak points (18-9). The team’s 52 bench points more than doubled Golden State’s output (21), with Monk on his own (28) outscoring all Warriors reserves combined.

But the defensive end is where Sacramento dazzled most, holding the run-and-gun Warriors to only 99 points, 37.2 percent from the field and 10-of-32 from long range.

“We never came in just thinking our season would be over tonight,” Fox said. “Everybody believes in each other … We know that we can score with anybody and I think in the postseason, our defense has been better.”

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Kings Come Out Swinging, Rout Warriors to Force Game 7

No. 0 shook off a slow start to score 20-plus points off the bench for the second time in the series, while De’Aaron Fox showed no ill effects from a finger injury.

The fourth quarter is usually time for the Clutch Player of the Year to jam his foot on the gas pedal, but when his former Wildcats teammate caught fire late in the second half, De’Aaron Fox dialed back his game and deferred to Malik Monk.

Scoreless with under four minutes left in the third quarter, Monk erupted for 21 points the rest of the way – 14 in the final frame – demoralizing the Warriors with his relentless pursuit of the rim, and on a night where the Kings were off target from the perimeter, drilling a momentum-shifting three as part of a 13-2 Kings run.

Despite a scary collision under the basket, No. 0 stayed in the lineup and continued to give the Warriors all they could handle, presenting issues for Golden State’s interior defense with acrobatic lay-ups in traffic and dump-off passes to Sacramento’s big men. The microwave scorer’s 91 points off the bench are the most in a five-game span by a Kings reserve in franchise history.

Monk, Fox and Davion Mitchell helped bring Sacramento to within a single basket in crunch time, but Golden State maintained its advantage on the scoreboard until the final horn, flexing their defensive chops and showing off their offensive firepower.

“Even though we cut it down to two, they still kept their composure and still ran their stuff,” Mitchell said. “That’s a really good team; give credit to them.”

With the Kings facing elimination for the first time, head coach Mike Brown expects his team to respond with season-on-the-line resilience in Game 6.

“We’ve been great when our backs have been against the wall all season, so I don’t see it being any different,” Brown said. “Our guys know what’s at stake and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

No Doubt: The Kings wondrous point guard was deemed “doubtful” to go earlier in the week, but Fox not only played through the pain in his fractured finger and the discomfort of the splint taped around it, but he also produced another exceptional all-around performance.

Fox showed no visible ill effects from the injury early on, finding the bottom of the net on his first three shots from behind the arc, and while his outside stroke later waned, he still found a way to get into the paint with his quickness, muscle and guile. No. 5 produced 24 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two steals in a team-high 42 minutes.

“I was fine,” Fox said regarding his injury. “I think at times, I had good looks that just didn’t go in. I think they played a good game defensively. They had their hands on a lot of balls, a lot of deflections, a lot of blocked shots. They did a good job in the second half defensively.”

Rookie Roller Coaster: Keegan Murray has been implored to ramp up his aggressiveness as a scorer by his coaches and teammates, and the rookie, picking up right where he left off in Game 4, responded by netting 10 of Sacramento's first 19 points on Wednesday. But despite playing 35 minutes, Murray wasn’t heard from in the second half; his only field goal attempt came on Sacramento’s final possession of the night.

“I think it was the flow of the game, but at the same time, we have to get him more shots,” Fox said. “He’s one of the better shooters in the league … we have to help him get open.”

Key Stat: The Kings set a franchise record for threes made in a quarter with eight on 12 tries in the first, but the deep-shooting barrage wouldn’t last. Outside-accuracy problems plagued Sacramento once again over the next 36 minutes, during which Sacramento hoisted 23 shots from long range but made just two.

Entering Game 5, Sacramento ranked fifth in three-point attempts (38.0) but 14th in percentage (30.3) among the 16 playoff teams, a nearly six-point drop from its output during the regular season (36.9 percent). And despite generating not just plenty of good looks, but the most wide-open shots from behind the arc – 21 per contest – in the postseason, the Kings made only 31 percent of them.

Turning Point: Golden State has been most vulnerable during Stephen Curry’s minutes on the bench, but when the Warriors star sat at the 5:39 mark of the second quarter, Klay Thompson drilled three consecutive triples. A three-point play by Draymond Green capped a 12-0 run, flipping a six-point Kings lead into a six-point deficit in just under three minutes.

Mitchell made it clear that the Kings, fully aware of the stakes, need to reduce defensive breakdowns, become the aggressors from the opening tip, and reach a higher gear that they haven't yet reached to avoid falling to the defending champions.

“It’s kind of like desperation; win or go home,” he said. “Just like how we were up 2-0 and they did a really good job of coming out strong, hitting us in the mouth in Game 3, and they kind of took that [game] over, we have to have the same mindset coming in.”

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Malik Monk Fuels Late Rally But Warriors Prevail

There are few, if any forces in the NBA more dangerous than a Sacramento team captained by De’Aaron Fox and empowered by momentum. In what’s become a running theme in the series, no lead is safe as long as there’s time on the clock, and in a back-and-forth affair where both sides barely had enough time to catch their catch breath, the Kings stormed back with the resiliency they’d demonstrated all season long.

A game of runs came oh-so-close to being defined by one last push from Sacramento, and nearly ended in a dramatic walk-off victory on a Harrison Barnes game-winner. But the veteran’s shot caromed off the back rim, and after surrendering four consecutive Kings points – on a Malik Monk technical free throw and a Fox three-pointer contested by Draymond Green – Golden State escaped by only a single point on its home floor.&nbsp;

Despite the outcome, Kings head coach Mike Brown was proud of his team for going toe-to-toe with the defending champions and praised its effort even after trailing by double-digits entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought our guys came out with a purpose tonight,” Brown said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win and that's all you can ask for come playoff time […] We had a wide-open look from the three-point line and you couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”

The Kings are both too persistent and too close a match for the Warriors to permit anything less than keeping each game competitive, but curbing mistakes, Brown says, will be what separates the two otherwise evenly-matched squads.

“This is where our playoff inexperience comes into play,” Brown said. “You can’t rest out there, you can’t think that you can do something a certain way and champions aren’t going to make you pay the price. You have to take pride in playing a certain way for 48 minutes.”

With home-court advantage, Golden State’s well-documented road struggles and no question that Sacramento can handle the pressure, even against a mentally and physically tough Warriors team, there’s no sense of panic in the locker room.“Our confidence isn't down,” said Domantas Sabonis, who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. “Obviously, it's not the outcome we wanted, but we are going home and we have to take care of business there. It's a long series.”

Rookie Breakout: It was a matter of when, not if, the threes would start falling for Keegan Murray and the floodgates would swing open. The same wide-open looks that weren’t dropping for the Kings rookie in the first three contests were swishing through the net in Game 4 with an air of inevitability to them not felt since the regular season.

“I just tried to be more aggressive throughout the playoffs,” Murray said. “I knew eventually, I’d catch my stride on the offensive end. So it was just a matter of time and I just came in confident, just tried to figure out what they’re doing against me; just tried to figure out how I can get open looks.”

No. 13 entered the day with only one make on eight tries from downtown and 10 total points in 54 minutes, but the Murray who drilled a rookie-record 206 threes on 41-percent shooting, the key cog in the offense who’s comfortable from every spot around the arc, returned with a bang in Game 4.

The even-keeled rookie drilled 5-of-7 from distance and 9-of-13 overall for 23 points, the most by a first-year player in the Sacramento era. He proved defiantly that playoff nerves weren’t a factor, instead validating that the results of the first three games were simply a fluke.

“I thought he stepped up tonight and showed why he’s first-team All-Rookie,” Brown said. “He’s the only rookie in the lottery that’s still playing, and playing a significant role for his team. Tonight, he almost helped us get over the hump.”

Turning Point: Every time the Warriors thought they had an iota of breathing room, the Kings refused to back down, putting pressure on the defense in transition and generating efficient offense with crisp ball movement in the half court.

They did it when Golden State jumped ahead 28-21 on a pull-up jumper from Stephen Curry, netting 20 of the game’s next 25 points. They did again, this time with a 9-2 run, once the Warriors tied the score toward the end of the first half. And they did it one final time, when everyone else in the building thought the game was over with the ball in Curry’s hands, a five-point cushion and less than a minute to go.

Elite Company: Fox scored 38 points for the second time in four games, already joining Chris Webber and Mike Bibby as the third player in the Sacramento era with multiple 30-point playoff outings in a single postseason run. The league’s Clutch Player of the Year put in 12 of those points in the fourth quarter, including seven straight during Sacramento’s late-game rally that nearly catapulted the Kings to an improbable victory.

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Fox & Murray Catch Fire, But Kings Drop Heartbreaker in Game 4

No. 5 went toe-to-toe with Golden State’s sharpshooting star, but Golden State outpaced and out-rebounded the Kings in Game 3.

Nobody said it would be easy to unseat the defending NBA champions, so the end result of Game 3 dampened neither the spirits of the coaching staff nor the enthusiasm of the participants.

“Every time we step on the floor, we’re growing; whether we win or we lose,” said Kings head coach Mike Brown. “Tonight, our group had a chance to experience what a championship team does when their backs are against the wall … They did all the small things that we’d been doing a pretty good job of in Games 1 and 2. [It was] a great test for us, a great way to learn. We’ll try to go watch the film, go back for Game 4 and be a little bit better in those areas.”

For much of the night, it was an old-fashioned duel between two of the league’s craftiest scorers in Stephen Curry and De’Aaron Fox, an unspoken game of “anything you can do, I can do better” that ultimately went to the two-time MVP.

Still, Fox refused to go down quietly, answering with step-back threes that splashed through the net, old-fashioned three-point plays on strong drives to the rim and precise passes to teammates when faced with double-teams. Sacramento’s All-Star guard finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, narrowly missing a triple-double that would’ve been the first by a Kings player in the postseason since Chris Webber’s in 2004.

But even Fox’s best efforts couldn’t completely offset his team’s off-shooting night from behind the arc and Golden State’s edge on the glass. Entering the game, Brown preached the importance of the three “Ps” – physicality, pace and poise – and reiterated his message after the final horn.

“As champions, Golden State did exactly what they’re supposed to do: they came home and they upped their level of physicality,” Brown said. “They were the more physical team tonight, on both ends of the floor … We have to come out with more physicality and pace in our next game.”

Battle of the Bigs: Domantas Sabonis was booed vociferously by Warriors fans every time he touched the ball, but if the hostile crowd tried to make him uncomfortable, it didn’t work. The Kings center played with purpose, certainty and his customary, hard-nosed toughness, collecting 16 rebounds for the second time in three games, to go with 15 points and four assists.

No. 10’s ground-bound game and repertoire of back-to-the-basket moves – lefty jump hooks, pump fakes and spins once he established position – sent defenders flying on multiple occasions. But while Kevon Looney wasn’t asked to carry as much of the load offensively for Golden State, he made as big of an impact as anyone on his team with 20 rebounds and nine assists.

“We have to learn from this game, come out in Game 4 and try and steal it,” Sabonis said. “I felt like today, they were more physical and that affected us.”

Key Stats: 18 offensive rebounds – nine by Looney alone – resulted in 24 second-chance points for Golden State, while Sacramento’s 15 turnovers contributed to another 22 Warriors points. Those numbers were in stark contrast to the first two games, in which the Kings held a decisive edge in both categories.

“We couldn’t get a defensive rebound to save our life there for a second,” Sabonis said. “That just gave them more possessions, and we couldn’t run our pace because we had to take the ball out of bounds.”

Turning Point: Curry’s finger roll stretched Golden State’s lead to 18 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter, but Fox responded with six consecutive points, on a triple and then an old-fashioned three-point-play to trim the deficit to a more manageable 12. A subsequent 11-3 run by Golden State early in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for Sacramento.

Dictating the pace and spending less time playing catch-up in Game 4 are among the top priorities as the Kings aim to bounce back on Sunday.

“I think there were times when we got it to single-digits but they responded and brought the lead back up,” Fox said. “For us, defensively, we have to start with getting stops and just try to get out in transition.”

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Near Triple-Double From De’Aaron Fox Not Enough in Game 3

Sacramento seized a 2-0 series lead over Golden State behind defensive stops and late-game baskets from its backcourt duo.

If it's true, as is so often said in NBA conversations, that the true greats are defined not by what they accomplish in the first 82 games but in the ones that extend deep into April, then De’Aaron Fox is making the leap to superstardom right before our eyes.

A decisive fourth-quarter scoring binge for the Kings guard came as effortlessly as it so often does, with each bucket seeming to come with a promise that there was a lot more where that came from.&nbsp;

On a night when his shots weren’t falling early, Fox knocked down 5 of his 9 attempts in the final period, none bigger than a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from straight away that pushed Sacramento’s lead to six with just over two minutes left. It wasn’t just his scoring either: Fox drew defenders to him only to whip the ball back to find teammates between opponents, dishing nine assists compared to only two turnovers, and ripped four of the team’s 11 steals.

“You take your hat off to Foxy,” said Kings head coach Mike Brown. “Big, big, big buckets down the stretch. He hit a big three right in front of our bench that was phenomenal.”

Strength in Numbers: Fox was hardly alone in Game 2; the beauty in this Kings team, this roster with unmatched depth and more versatility than a swiss army knife, lies in their balance and selflessness.

Both were quiet in the opening game, but on Monday, Domantas Sabonis manhandled his undersized, overmatched opponents and Davion Mitchell picked their pockets.

No. 10 was his customary do-everything self, finishing on 5-of-6 shots in the restricted area, and 8-of-12 overall, for 24 points, along with nine rebounds and four assists. Asked if he’s ever coached a tougher player, Brown was adamant he hadn’t.

“He’s tough as they come,” Brown said. “His motor is unbelievable, his mental toughness is unbelievable and his physical toughness is unbelievable. It was all on display tonight.”

As for Mitchell, Sacramento never would have been in position to win if not for several big plays by its defensive ace in the early going and down the stretch.

Mitchell slid into the right spots to take charges, picked off lazy passes and perhaps even more importantly, denied Steph Curry from having the space he desired to operate. More than once, by the time the ball reached the two-time MVP, Mitchell was there, denying what would have been an open jump shot against a lesser defender, and when Curry gave up the ball, Mitchell was often there to deflect it.

“I think throughout the game, I just tried to do a good job of putting ball-pressure on Steph, trying to just keep running around with him,” Mitchell said.

“I try to limit his shots, his touches. If he does touch it, just make it hard throughout the game, just keep a body on him, keep pushing him. Eventually he’s going to get tired … eventually, his legs are going to weigh down and his shots are going to be short, so we just tried to do that and I think we did a really good job on him today.”

Mitchell isn’t the only one but is certainly the biggest reason why Curry has more turnovers (10) than assists (eight) through two games, and why he’s missed twice as many three-pointers (18) as he’s made (nine).

And when the Warriors loomed with a late push, it was Mitchell, beaming with confidence, who slammed the door shut with a triple of his own from the right corner that effectively sealed the outcome.

“He was big-time for us tonight,” Fox said. “Obviously we all know what he can do defensively. He hounded Steph most of the game, and then obviously what he added to us today offensively was huge. The big three in the corner, honestly I would say, was like the nail in the coffin.”

Key Stat No. 1: Taking care of the ball and thus preventing the Warriors from generating many fastbreak opportunities was one of Sacramento’s top priorities, and in Game 2, the Kings committed only two turnovers in the second half (14 total). Golden State coughed up the ball on nine possessions in the first quarter – four via Kings steals – and 22 times on the night, translating to 25 points for Sacramento.

“We have to keep having active hands throughout the ball game,” said Brown. “Try to get as many deflections as possible and hope those can turn into points going the other way.”

Key Stat No. 2: As comfortable as they are on the perimeter, the Kings have dominated in the paint, outscoring the Warriors 54-40 in Game 2, and 114-84 through two contests.

Turning Point: Early on, Game 2 had all the earmarks of a struggle, but Sacramento ramped up its defensive intensity to begin the second quarter, dictating the pace and threatening to run the Warriors out of the gym. Malik Monk picked up right where left off in Game 1, drilling three consecutive threes in a span of 2:04, while the physicality of Alex Len again proved effective in thwarting the Warriors from attacking the rim. A 23-8 flurry flipped a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead, as Golden State’s offense became discombobulated and its defense shredded.

Each time the Warriors made a subsequent run, Sacramento withstood it and responded with a haymaker of its own. Even when Golden State eventually knotted the game at 95, the Kings scored the next six points, proving that while other teams may fall apart under pressure, they happen to thrive under it.

“For us to be able to protect [home court], I think is definitely huge for us,” Fox said. “It builds confidence; day after day, game after game, when you’re winning a game in a playoff series, it builds up your confidence.”

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De’Aaron Fox, Davion Mitchell Shine in Game 2 Win

Sacramento’s backcourt duo combined for 70 points in a thrilling, come-from-behind playoff victory against the defending-champion Warriors.

Time and again in his playoff introduction, De’Aaron Fox pulled off heroics that few had ever reached and even fewer had topped, gracefully dancing into the paint before stepping backward into soft jumpers, earning trips to the foul line and knocking down back-breaking threes.

By the time the clock ticked to zero, the horn sounded and the crowd erupted into a frenzy, the speedy guard finished with 38 points, the second-most by any player in his postseason debut, and one point shy of tying Peja Stojakovic’s Sacramento-era record.

29 of those points came in the second half, in which the Warriors, not unlike most teams this season, had no answer for Sacramento’s floor general. Fox maneuvered to his sweet spots on the floor and rose to the occasion each time Golden State threatened to pull away, embracing the biggest moments on the biggest stage of his career rather than shying away from them.

“In the fourth quarter and at the end of a game – we talk about this countless times – my teammates are confident in me to go out there and make plays for myself and others,” Fox said. “So the least I can do is go out there and believe in myself.”

It’s one game of what’s setting up to be an exhausting, emotional and dramatic series, but Fox’s postseason heroics in the series opener will undoubtedly endure with those of Mike Bibby’s and Kevin Martin’s in Kings lore.

Difference Maker: Like so many of the scintillating Sixth Men before him, from Bobby Jackson to Hedo Turkoglu, Malik Monk proved why he’s one of most dangerous substitutes in the league. His energy and scoring punch fueled the Kings in the second period, preventing a slim Warriors lead from ballooning to an insurmountable number. The guard came off the bench to score 15 points in the period, the most in a single quarter by a Kings player since 1996-97, on 5-of-6 from the floor.

“His game has evolved so much and I think his game is built for a stage like this,” Fox said. “There’s nothing on the offensive end that he can’t do, so that makes our team that much more dynamic.”

Monk finished with 32 in the game, an NBA record by a reserve in his postseason debut, as well as the highest output by a Kings backup in franchise history. His 14 free throws without a miss also equaled a team record that was last achieved by Peja Stojakvoic in 2001.

If that weren’t enough, Fox and Monk became the first pair of Kings teammates to each score at least 30 points in a playoff game since Bibby and Peja Stojakovic on May 3, 2005.

Turning Point: After falling behind by double-digits at the 3:07 mark of the third quarter, the Kings sprinted to a 15-4 run to regain the lead on a Monk drive to the bucket to close the period.&nbsp;

For all the talk about the Warriors’ experience, their been-there, done-that edge entering the playoffs against the untested Kings, it was Golden State that faltered late beneath the pressure of a Sacramento assault ignited by Fox’s quickness, enforced by Monk’s aggressiveness and fed by fan-driven fervor.

Following a Stephen Curry three-pointer that put Golden State on top with about four minutes left in the final frame, Sacramento rallied back with seven straight points, starting with a triple from Fourth-Quarter Fox, and never surrendered the lead.

Light the Beam: The volume of most playoff games might be considered high, but in Sacramento, what started as a deafening cacophony of cheers and cowbells intensified into an uproar that, for stretches, drowned out the sounds of in-game music and referees’ whistles.

“It was incredible all night,” said Kings forward Harrison Barnes. “When guys ran out for lay-up lines, how loud it got in there, I think everyone got chills. That was pretty special just for us, just to see the excitement that everybody had. I think that guys were just playing off that adrenaline all night.”

The fans’ cheers grew louder as their team’s lead grew bigger, and when Curry’s game-tying attempt bounced off the rim, 18,253 strong collectively leapt from their seats to match the magnitude of one of Sacramento’s greatest moments in many years.

Hours later, “Light the Beam” chants continued to reverberate in the DOCO plaza, a celebration that signified how much playoff basketball was missed by and how much it means to the city of Sacramento.

“Our fans were off the charts,” said Kings head coach Mike Brown. “It was deafening in there. It was extremely loud, so you have to take your hat off to them because they brought it for us tonight. You could feel the energy … We’re going to need them to be there for us, night in and night out, because it’s not easy. It’s a long journey and we just have to keep taking it one step at a time. We need everyone behind us in Sacramento, which I feel we definitely have.”