Just a day removed from a buzzer-beating loss at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento scored a thrilling 109-106 win in overtime versus the Golden State Warriors, who sport the NBA’s best record.
The start to the contest set the tone for what would be one of the League’s best games of the season, with the teams trading runs throughout the opening quarter. A 6-0 Sactown run was answered by 11-straight points by Golden State, but DeMarcus Cousins and Darren Collison refused to let the opposition pull away. By the end of the first 12 minutes, Cousins had matched Stephen Curry’s contributions - scoring a dozen, grabbing seven boards and assisting on four baskets.
Curry and Thompson combined for 32 first-half points as the teams headed to the break tied at 56. Whereas DMC proved to be the Kings instigator in the opening frame, fellow Kentucky alum Willie Cauley-Stein sparked the Kings in the second with 12 points. The Kings have generally shot poorly on the tail end of a back-to-back, but they broke their funk Saturday with an incredible 55-percent opening half.
Held to just 44 percent before intermission, Golden State shot a lights out 56-percent in the third. But again, Sacramento held their NorCal rivals in check. Golden State’s three-point barrage was continually answered by the likes of Boogie and Collison, who combined for 17 of the team’s 26 third quarter points. As momentum shifted in the home team’s favor following the ejection of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, Golden State hit back-to-back threes to turn a five-point deficit into a one-point advantage.
Following a 30-foot three by Curry, the Pacific Division rivals were knotted at 82 heading to the final frame of regulation.
Déjà vu put the Kings in a familiar place early in the fourth. They led by three possessions following the strong two-man play of Cauley-Stein and Ty Lawson. Curry and Kevin Durant combined for eight of the Warriors final 14 points to force overtime as neither team could convert potential game-winning shots.
In the overtime period, Sacramento scored seven unanswered points led by No. 15, who scored four and assisted a three-pointer by Matt Barnes to push the Kings advantage. Like most of the game, Golden State answered with a run of their own, holding the Kings without a field goal in the final 2:39 of play.
In that time-frame, the Warriors pulled within one, controlling the last possession with 6.2 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, a go-ahead layup by Curry just missed. Collison secured the rebound and calmly sank two clutch free throws to pull ahead by three. Draymond Green’s contested game-tying attempt missed, leaving Sacramento with the taste of victory.
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