Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry scored 50 points to defeat the Kings in Game 7 of a memorable first-round playoff series last season.
The two-time MVP returned to Sacramento on Friday night to deliver another knockout performance, outdueling De’Aaron Fox and putting the Kings to bed in their highly anticipated home opener on ESPN.
Curry scored 41 points to lead the Warriors to a 122-114 victory before a sellout crowd of 18,250 at Golden 1 Center. The Kings mounted a furious comeback in the final minutes to give themselves a chance, but Curry gave them his patented night-night signal after making a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute.
The Kings have seen enough of Curry over the past seven months to know how hard it is to stop him once he gets into a rhythm.
“Ask anybody,” Fox said. “It’s almost impossible unless you’re blocking his shot, which is hard to do. Once the shots start going in, you just try to make it tough for him, get the ball out of his hands — something — but that’s a difficult thing to do, especially once he has it rolling.”
Fox was special, too. He scored 22 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter. Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings (0-2). Keegan Murray added 16 points and seven rebounds.
Fox went 7 of 13 from the field, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 6 of 7 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. He was asked what it was like to go head-to-head with a future Hall of Famer like Curry just a day after signing an endorsement deal with the Curry Brand.
“It’s fun and not fun,” Fox said. “Because once he gets it going, there’s not much you can really do about it.”
The Warriors went up by six in the first quarter, but the Kings came back to take a 29-24 lead following back-to-back 3-pointers by Sasha Vezenkov and a filthy stepback 3 from Fox. The Kings went 6 of 13 from 3-point range in the opening period while the Warriors went 2 of 10.
Sacramento stretched its lead to 11 early in the second quarter. The Warriors battled back to reclaim the lead on two free throws by Curry with just under a minute remaining. They carried a 60-57 lead into the break after Jonathan Kuminga made a corner 3 with 1.2 seconds to play in the half.
Golden State extended its lead to 11 on a four-point play by Curry midway through the third quarter. After scoring 18 points in the opening half, Curry scored 16 in the third period, going 6 of 7 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
While Curry got hot, the Kings went cold. They shot 50% from the field in the first two quarters, but they went 9 of 25 from the field and 2 of 11 from 3-point range in the third.
The Warriors went into the fourth quarter with a 99-84 lead. They led by 18 following a basket by Chris Paul with 5:54 remaining.
The Kings staged a 20-6 run to cut the deficit to five on a free throw by Fox with 1:15 to play, but a 3-pointer by Curry with 43.1 seconds ended Sacramento’s comeback bid.
“You have to give props to him, just the way he plays against us,” Murray said when asked about Curry. “We’ve got to just find a way to contain him.”
NorCal connections
The Warriors defeated the Kings in seven games in a contentious first-round playoff series in April, but the teams at the center of this budding Northern California rivalry share deep ties and mutual respect.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé was part of the Warriors ownership group before he purchased the team in Sacramento, putting an end to years of painful relocation talks. Kings coach Mike Brown spent six seasons as Steve Kerr’s lead assistant with the Warriors before he took the job in Sacramento, bringing assistant coaches Luke Loucks and Leandro Barbosa with him.
“There’s a lot of crossover starting with Vivek being with the Warriors before and then myself, and then, shoot, we’ve got two of their security guards, Antoine and Ralph, and somebody from the medical team, Jeremy, helping us out, and Luke and Leandro. I could go down the line in terms of the crossover.”
Familiar foes
The Kings have played 11 of their last 16 preseason, regular season and playoff games against the Warriors. The two teams will add to that total when they meet again Wednesday at Chase Center in San Francisco. The Kings will face the Warriors again Nov. 28 in Sacramento and Jan. 25 in San Francisco.
“The more you play them, the more familiar you are with them and you’re more apt to try different things against their team,” Brown said before the game. “They’re probably tired of seeing us and we’re probably a little tired of seeing them, but especially in the playoffs last year, we felt like we learned a lot in that series, and hopefully it will start showing itself tonight against them.”
Injury report
Kings forward Trey Lyles was ruled out against the Warriors due to a left calf strain that also caused him to miss the season opener against the Utah Jazz. Warriors forward Draymond Green was out with a left ankle sprain.
Up next
The Kings will face the Los Angeles Lakers at 6 p.m. Sunday at Golden 1 Center. The Lakers opened the season with a 119-107 loss to the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday before beating the Phoenix Suns 100-95 on Thursday.
The Lakers feature all-time NBA scoring leader LeBron James, who is beginning his 21st season at 38 years old. James will make his first appearance of the season in Sacramento, where he made his NBA debut on Oct. 29, 2003.
Upcoming schedule
Oct. 29 vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Nov. 1 at Golden State Warriors
Nov. 4 at Houston Rockets
Nov. 6 at Houston Rockets
Nov. 8 vs. Portland Trail Blazers