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Warriors Slip Past Kings in San Jose

The Warriors' reserves pulled off a fourth quarter comeback as Golden State escaped with a 105-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.

Two days after winning a game in which they never trailed and held a lead as large as 53 points, the Warriors had a tougher go of it on Thursday, but ultimately pulled out a 105-96 victory over the Sacramento Kings in a preseason game in San Jose. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 25 points in 26 minutes of action before giving way to Golden State’s reserves for the entire fourth quarter, and thanks to a fourth quarter comeback by those reserves, the Warriors managed to overcome a sloppy performance in which they committed 24 turnovers. The win is Golden State’s second in a row, and improves their preseason record to 2-1.

GAME LEADERS

19 seconds into the contest, DeMarcus Cousins put the Warriors in a position they never experienced in their previous game – that is, at a deficit. The two sides would trade baskets for the first six minutes of the game, and Golden State wouldn’t gain their first lead until Stephen Curry’s 26-foot three-pointer put the Dubs up 21-19 with 4:01 remaining in the opening frame. Durant would follow that up with a three-pointer of his own, after which Klay Thompson drained a jumper to put Golden State in front 27-20, equaling their largest lead of the night until the decisive fourth quarter. Sacramento would trim their advantage to 27-24 heading into the second quarter, during which the Kings capitalized on Golden State’s carelessness to retake the lead.

Golden State, after committing eight turnovers in the opening frame, failed to learn from their mistakes and committed another seven in the second. Those fifteen miscues would lead to 16 points for Sacramento, giving the Kings the ammunition they needed to carry a lead into halftime. Despite Durant’s 16 points through the midway point of the game, it was the Kings taking a 55-50 advantage into the second half. The see-saw theme would persist into the third quarter, the vast majority of which Golden State held a small lead until a 9-4 Kings’ run to close out the frame sent the game into the fourth and final quarter all knotted up at 78-78. Durant and his 25 points, as well as the rest of the Warriors’ starters, would sit out the remainder of the contest, leaving their fate in the hands of their reserve unit.

After David West opened the quarter and temporarily broke the deadlock with a short jumper, Sacramento ripped off seven-straight points to put themselves back in the driver’s seat. Ian Clarke and Patrick McCaw responded with back-to-back three-pointers to put Golden State briefly back in front until Jordan Farmar flipped the script with a layup 17 seconds later. Sacramento would stretch their lead to as many as six points, but after Malachi Richardson’s split free throws put the Kings up 96-91 with 3:17 remaining in the game, the Warriors began to make their comeback, thanks to a combination of timely shooting and suffocating defense. Ian Clark drained consecutive three-pointers to give Golden State a one point lead with just over two minutes left, and that would prove to be enough, as the Warriors pitched a shutout from that point on, holding the Kings scoreless for the remainder of the game. McCaw would add another three-pointer of his own, and James Michael McAdoo closed out the scoring, sinking a three-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to put the finishing touch on Golden State’s 105-96 victory.

With the win, the Warriors improve to 2-1 in the preseason. Next, they’ll travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Friday, October 14.