De’Anthony Melton ignited a 15-0 burst bridging the third and fourth quarters with six straight points, Stephen Curry went for a game-high 27 and the Golden State Warriors won a second in a row to start a lengthy homestand, thumping the Sacramento Kings 137-103 on Friday night in San Francisco.
Melton finished with 19 points off the bench and Curry completed his second double-double of the season with a game-high 10 assists for the Warriors, who ran up a season-best 39 assists on their 52 baskets.
DeMar DeRozan had a team-high 24 points for the Kings, who played Golden State evenly for the first 33 minutes, gaining an 84-all tie on a Dennis Schroder 17-footer with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
Melton responded with a layup, two free throws and an interior hoop to give the Warriors a lead they never relinquished. Then, after teammates Will Richard and Al Horford each connected from short range, Melton buried a 3-pointer to give Golden State a 97-84 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
When Gui Santos dropped in a layup 23 seconds into the final period, the 15-point run had created a 15-point lead and the Kings were never appreciably closer.
Curry did a majority of his scoring from 3-point range, making 6 of 12 and helping the Warriors outscore the visitors 57-21 from deep. Golden State made 42% of its 3-point attempts and 55% overall en route to matching its season-high for points while running up its largest margin of victory on the year.
Draymond Green chipped in with 11 points, six rebounds and eight assists for the Warriors, who were playing their second of eight straight at home. Jimmy Butler III added 15 points, Brandin Podziemski 14, Gary Payton II 12 and Quinten Post 11 for Golden State, which avenged a five-point road loss to its Northern California rival on Nov. 5.
Payton also found time for a game-high nine rebounds.
DeRozan shot 10-for-19 for the Kings, who lost a seventh in a row despite shooting 50% from the field.
Russell Westbrook put up 13 points to complement a team-high seven assists for Sacramento, while Schroeder and Zach LaVine had 15 points each. Dylan Cardwell was the Kings’ leading rebounder with eight to go with six points.
–Field Level Media
