Klay Thompson drilled a contested jumper from just inside the free-throw line with two-tenths of a second remaining, delivering the Golden State Warriors a 102-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Golden State improved to 2-0 in early-season games against Sacramento, rematches of last season’s first-round playoff matchup that the Warriors won in seven games.
After Domantas Sabonis banked in a 20-footer from just above the foul line to put Sacramento up 101-100 with 15.8 seconds remaining, the Warriors advanced the ball without a timeout but were unable to free Stephen Curry, their leading scorer with 21 points.
Instead, the ball went to Thompson, and with nowhere else to turn and time running out, the veteran made his way close enough to get off his game-winning shot.
Left with just two-tenths of a second, the Kings used a timeout to advance the ball but failed on a alley-oop inbounds pass, settling for a second loss to their Northern California rivals in six days.
In winning for the fourth straight time after an opening home loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Warriors were able to overcome a 48-36 rebounding disadvantage and 18 turnovers, three more than the Kings committed.
Curry shot 4-for-10 on 3-point attempts en route to his team-high point total, but his teammates hit just 7 of 21 from long distance. The Kings, who were playing without guard De’Aaron Fox (ankle), matched the Warriors’ 33 points from beyond the arc.
Dario Saric added 15 points for the Warriors, while Thompson and Andrew Wiggins had 14 each, Draymond Green had 13 to go with a game-high nine assists, and Jonathan Kuminga finished with 12.
Green, who missed Golden State’s 122-114 win at Sacramento on Friday due to an ankle injury, also had two steals and two blocks in his 28 minutes.
Kevon Looney was the Warriors’ leading rebounder with nine to complement six points and six assists.
Sabonis paced Sacramento with game-high totals in points (23) and rebounds (11), including three offensive boards. The Kings retrieved 14 offensive rebounds to help keep them in the game despite shooting just 40.9 percent.
Sabonis also found time for a team-high eight assists.
Malik Monk had 16 points, Harrison Barnes 14, Davion Mitchell 13, Kevin Huerter 11 and Keegan Murray 10 for the Kings, who have alternated wins and losses in their first four games of the season.
–Field Level Media