SACRAMENTO, California. – De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and delivered a game-changing 3-point win that led the playoff freshman Sacramento Kings to a second straight win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 114-106 on Monday night.
The Kings finished the game strong after Golden State’s Draymond Green was kicked out of the tournament for a blatant foul, and became the first team to take a 2-0 lead over the Warriors in the Stephen Curry era.
The Warriors will be looking to get back in the series when it moves less than 90 miles southwest to San Francisco for Game 3 on Thursday night.
The game heated up in the fourth quarter when Green stomped Domantas Sabonis on the chest 7:03, resulting in a sack for a flagrant foul.
During the review, fans in Sacramento shouted derogatory chants towards Green, who goaded them by waving his hands, putting a hand to his ear and calling for louder cheers and standing on a chair.
The Warriors fought back to level the game before the Kings hit a 17-8 run to run away to the delight of the towel-waving crowd.
Fox’s 3-pointers made it 107-101 with 2:17 to play and the kings were in control from there. Davion Mitchell put it away with another 3 that made it 112-103 with 1:18 left.
Sabonis added 24 points for Sacramento and Malik Monk scored 18 from the bench.
Curry led the Warriors by 28 points but only made 3 of 13 from 3-point range as Golden State struggled to get going offensively. The Warriors committed 22 turnovers.
Crowds at hungry Sacramento didn’t quite reach the opening game’s peak as fans celebrated the franchise’s first playoff game after a record 16-season drought.
The fans started coming into play in the second quarter thanks to another spark off the bench from Monk, who scored 32 points in the first set. Monk hit three 3-pointers in the first 2:04 of the period to fuel a 23-8 run that turned a six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
Golden State fought back and equalized with a 3 from Curry before the quarter’s final six points trailed 58-52 at halftime.
The Kings extended the lead to 14 points in the third quarter before the Warriors scored eight straight goals. Sacramento led 83-75 for fourth place.
BAD START
The teams got off to a sloppy start with nine turnovers each in the first quarter. The 18 combined first-quarter turnovers were the most in a game in more than six seasons and most in a playoff game since at least the 2001–02 season.
The Kings also missed their first 11 3-pointers before Fox made one late in the first.
TIP INS
Warrior: Andrew Wiggins was back on the starting lineup in his second back after being absent for more than two months due to an undisclosed family matter. Wiggins scored 22 points. … Golden State committed five fouls in the first 1:42 of the third quarter.
Kings: Sacramento’s 41 points in the second quarter marked the eighth time a team scored at least 40 points in a quarter of a playoff game against Golden State during coach Steve Kerr’s tenure.
NEXT
Game 3 takes place Thursday night in San Francisco.
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