De’Aaron Fox comes up big as Sacramento Kings knock off Golden State Warriors
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Kings returned to the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs for the first time in 17 years on Saturday, and they did everything they could to get off to a fast start.
De’Aaron Fox scored a game-high 38 points in his NBA post-season debut and teamed with Malik Monk for 28 fourth-quarter points, as the Kings edged the visiting Golden State Warriors 126-123 in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven affair is scheduled for Monday night, also in Sacramento.
“Sacramento showed out tonight,” Fox said on ESPN.
“But doing this for the fans, just knowing the way that they support this team through thick and thin – really thin. It’s just a testament to the way they are.”
Coach Mike Brown was pleased with his team’s performance and reserved special praise for Fox.
“You need guys like that on your side. There’s no secrets. You have to have guys on your team that can go make plays and Foxy went and made plays tonight,” he said.
The Warriors led for most of the first three quarters, and by as many as 10 points, but when the Kings went almost exclusively to Fox and Monk in the fourth, they responded.
Fox gave the Kings the lead for good at 115-114 with a three-pointer with 3min 50sec to go and, when Harrison Barnes bombed in a trey of his own shortly after, the hosts opened a six-point gap with just 2:35 left.
But the Warriors, the defending NBA champions, got a driving hoop and a three-pointer from Stephen Curry to close within 123-121 with 1:19 to play, then got possession of the ball, down by one, in the final half-minute.
However, Andrew Wiggins, playing for the first time following a 25-game absence for personal reasons, misfired on a wide-open three-pointer from the left corner with 10sec left.
Monk capped a 32-point performance off the bench with two free throws with 2.9 seconds to go and, when Curry misfired on an open three-pointer at the horn, the Kings celebrated a win in their first-ever play-off game against their northern California rivals.
Trey Lyles added 16 points, Barnes 13 and Domantas Sabonis 12 with a game-high 16 rebounds for Sacramento, who earned the No. 3 seed in the West – and home-court advantage – by winning the Pacific Division title.
Curry finished with 30 points while Klay Thompson added 21 for the Warriors.
“That first game is kind of a feeling out process,” Curry said.
“We responded (towards the end). That’s what we are capable of doing. It was a high energy game from start to finish.”
Wiggins and Jordan Poole had 17 points apiece and Donte DiVincenzo 10 for Golden State, while Draymond Green chipped in with a game-high 11 assists and nine rebounds. REUTERS
