Stephen Curry’s four-point play highlighted a third-quarter run that sent the visiting Golden State Warriors to a 122-114 victory over the Sacramento Kings in Friday night’s rematch of the clubs’ first-round playoff series in April.
Curry finished with a game-high 41 points and Chris Paul delivered 10 points and 12 assists for the Warriors, who were coming off a season-opening loss at home to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
De’Aaron Fox had a team-high 39 points and Domantas Sabonis collected 19 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Kings, who were playing their first home game since losing 120-100 loss to Golden State in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series last season.
The Warriors led just 60-57 at halftime before taking charge with a 39-point third-quarter explosion that featured seven 3-pointers. Curry turned one of those treys into a four-point play for an 80-70 lead just past the midpoint of the period.
Down by as many as 18 later in the third, the Kings rallied within 117-112 on a free throw by Fox with 1:15 to go.
He missed the second foul shot, but Sabonis retained possession with an offensive rebound and fed Fox for a 27-footer that could have made it a one-possession game. But the shot was off the mark, and when Curry drilled his seventh 3-pointer of the night with 43 seconds left, the Warriors were finally able to coast home.
Curry shot 7-for-10 on 3-pointers on a night when the Warriors outscored the Kings 42-36 from beyond the arc despite taking eight fewer attempts.
Klay Thompson backed Curry with 18 points, while Jonathan Kuminga had 12, Andrew Wiggins 11 and Moses Moody 10. Kevon Looney was Golden State’s leading rebounder with 12 to complement eight points, six assists and three steals.
Fox shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers, but his teammates went just 7-for-31.
Keegan Murray had 16 points, while Harrison Barnes and Sasha Vezenkov added 10 apiece for the Kings, who had thumped the Jazz 130-114 in Utah in their opener on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
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