Warriors Hang On For Game 4 Victory

It was a wild back-and-forth affair, but the Warriors did just enough to hold off the Kings 126-125 on Sunday afternoon at Chase Center.

A defensive stop in the final minute left the Warriors with a five-point lead, but a wild sequence ensued that left the Kings with a shot to win the game at the buzzer. But a missed 3-pointer from former Warrior Harrison Barnes as time expired left the Dubs with the win, and the series tied 2-2 with Game 5 coming up on Wednesday in Sacramento.

Stephen Curry had 32 points to lead the Warriors, Klay Thompson had 26 and Jordan Poole had 22 as the Dubs went with a three-guard starting lineup. De'Aaron Fox led the Kings with 38 points, while rookie forward Keegan Murray had 23 points while knocking down five of his seven 3-point attempts.

THIRD QUARTER DUBS
That the Warriors were in position to win the game in the first place had every bit to do with their third quarter dominance. The Dubs outscored the Kings 37-23 in the period, marking the highest scoring quarter of the series for the Warriors. Jordan Poole had eight straight Warriors points in the period, but it was an assist from him that wound up being the defining play of the quarter.

As the third quarter was coming to a close, the Warriors looked to get the last shot of the period. A Jordan Poole pass found Donte DiVincenzo on the right wing. DiVincenzo took a few dribbles toward the basket but passed back out to Poole on the left wing, who swiftly found Klay Thompson in the corner, right in front of the Kings bench. In full-on catch-and-shoot mode, Thompson knocked down the 3-pointer as time expired on the quarter, giving the Dubs a 102-92 lead.

CLOSE ONE TO THE FINISH
Thompson’s quarter-ending triple put the Dubs up by 10 points, the biggest lead of the game for either team. The Dubs led by seven in the first quarter before the Kings rallied to push their advantage to as many as nine late in the second quarter, but it was a one or two possession game for the bulk of the second half.

There were 19 lead changes and 10 ties in the game, and after the Kings briefly went ahead with a 15-4 blitz to open the fourth quarter, the Warriors took the lead right back with Curry finishing a contested shot at the rim. Curry would hit a deep two on the Dubs’ next possession and would later knock down a pair of what proved to be huge 3-pointers, as the reigning NBA Finals MVP scored 10 of his 32 points in the final period.

DRAYMOND OFF THE BENCH
With the Warriors playing their best game of the series on Thursday in Game 3 – when Draymond Green served a one-game suspension – Head Coach Steve Kerr elected to go with the same starting lineup that gave the Dubs a Game 3 victory, leaving Green to come off the bench.

It marked the first time in nearly nine years to the day that Green came off the bench in a playoff game. He checked into the game with the Dubs down one midway through the first quarter and quickly made his presence felt. On his first possession of the game, Green freed up Jordan Poole with an off-ball screen, giving the Dubs’ guard a shot to knock down one of his two 3-pointers in the period. Green finished the game with 12 points, seven assists and 10 rebounds, and his hard-nosed defense went a long way in helping the Dubs’ withstand the late Kings attack.

WILD ENDING
With the Warriors leading 126-121 with less than a minute to go, Kevon Looney pulled down a defensive rebound and handed the ball to Stephen Curry. Facing a double-team in the backcourt, Curry called a timeout. The only problem was the Dubs had used their last timeouts earlier in the period, and the Warriors were charged a technical.

Malik Monk made the ensuing free throw for the Kings, and Fox brought Sacramento within one when he knocked down a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound on the bonus possession. Curry missed a shot to extend the lead for the Warriors on the other end, and the Kings called timeout to set up the final possession of the game.

Fox received the inbound pass in the backcourt, and as a Warriors double-team approached at the 3-point line, he swung the ball to Barnes on the left wing. Curry attempted to challenge the shot, but Barnes got it off. The shot was a little long, bouncing high off the rim as the final second ticked off the clock to secure the win for the Warriors.

UP NEXT: After picking up two critical wins at home, the Warriors head to Sacramento for Game 5 on Wednesday (7 p.m., NBCSBA, TNT) with the series tied at 2-2. No matter what happens then, the series will then come back to Chase Center on Friday for Game 6.