Without home advantage, the defending champions officially launched the defense of their trophy in hostile territory: in a room that had never known the playoffs and in a city that had been waiting for such an atmosphere for soon… 17 years. We can also say that the atmosphere was there at the Golden 1 Center, to push the locals up.
Eager to deliver a maiden success to their fiery fans, the Kings therefore rose to the occasion, playing eye to eye with the Warriors for a half, before letting them widen the gap after the break. Except that with De’Aaron Fox (38 points, 5 assists) and the contribution of his bench, Sacramento gradually reversed Golden Statedespite Stephen Curry (30 points), to finally pick up and then finish the job after an unbreathable “money time” and which we thought would see swing in favor of the “Dubs”.
This makes it 1-0 for the Kings in this series, pending Game 2 on Monday evening.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Sacramento has resources. We did not give much of the skin of the Kings in the middle of the third quarter, when we saw the Warriors play their hand and succeed in the actions that hurt, offensively and defensively, by sanctioning each error of the locals. Except that Mike Brown’s men managed to sign a 15-4 “run”, stunning, at the end of the third quarter to change the face of the match, then continue their momentum and finally hold the shock in the “money time”, ahead of the experience of the reigning champions! Here they are at 1-0 and putting pressure on Golden State…
— Golden State lost track. Two minutes from the end of the fourth quarter, the Warriors led by ten points when Steve Kerr released Stephen Curry from the floor. Without the All-Star point guard, nor Draymond Green also at rest, the defending champions therefore lost their mastery in attack, suffering as a bonus in defense the wrath of Kings at the found address. They had the opportunity to take the break earlier, but the “Dubs” did not succeed and, in the end, they were not able to resist the multiple assaults of De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk or Trey Lyles again.
— Andrew Wiggins is back. After missing the last 25 games of the Warriors in the regular season for personal reasons, the Canadian was back in business tonight and, for the first time after 662 career games, he started on the bench. Not enough to prevent him from having a positive influence in attack and defense, with his contagious activity and energy, which Golden State sorely lacked for two months. A rather impressive performance from Wiggins after such a long absence, even if his shot is not settled (1/8 from 3-pointers) and he missed a wide open shot at the end.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ The “Kentuc Kings”. Between the XXL performance of De’Aaron Fox therefore, but also the capital contributions of Malik Monk (32 points) and Trey Lyles (16 points, 6 rebounds) off the bench, we can easily say that they are the former residents of Kentucky who saved Sacramento that night. Both when the Warriors controlled this game and needed points not to sink on the scoreboard, and when the Kings packed the game late in the third quarter with life-saving baskets. Without forgetting in the “money time”, to knock out Golden State to experience (or almost).
✅ Stephen Curry. With his ability to create play for his teammates, destabilize the Kings defense with his movements or punish with his sense of scoring, the All-Star point guard has often guided the Warriors in this part. Note that it was his exit from the court that coincided with Sacramento turning the game around and then regaining the momentum, but in the final act Curry struggled to make up for that slack with several tricky, or shall we say, “baskets.” Curryesques”. In vain, but the shot was almost perfect…
⛔ Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray. If Domantas Sabonis had an ordeal against Draymond Green and Kevon Looney (5/17 in the shoot), his presence on the rebound (16, including 5 offensive) was essential to allow the Kings to win this battle. Thus, we are forced to dwell on the failed performance of the Huerter / Murray pair, which alone illustrated the difficulties in shooting the Kings: 8 points in total, 0/8 to 3-points (and despite several beautiful shooting positions). Fortunately Malik Monk, Trey Lyles or Davion Mitchell were there to compensate for the evening without their two teammates.
⛔ Klay Thompson. Certainly, the quadruple NBA champion planted 21 points (at 8/19) in the shadow of Stephen Curry, but he also took the water most of the time in defense against De’Aaron Fox or Malik Monk, brilliant for their first playoff game. In addition, Thompson surprised in his decision making in the last seconds, when he offered an interesting position at half distance at 123-124, but preferred to shift Andrew Wiggins, wide open at 3- points in the corner, while a 2-point was enough to restore the advantage to Golden State.
THE FOLLOWING
Game 2still in Sacramento, on the night of Monday to Tuesday (04:00).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D= defensive rebound; T = Total Bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Points = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
