The Golden State Warriors pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat the Sacramento Kings 116-115 in a preseason game on Wednesday night. Even in a game with no impact on the regular season standings, Steph Curry showed off his legendary ability to take over a game.
Despite missing two of their usual starters (Kevon Looney and Draymond Green), the Warriors leaned on the top of their depth chart more than they had in previous preseason games. In a sign of likely things to come, head coach Steve Kerr finally shifted offseason acquisition Chris Paul to the bench. Paul, Curry, Klay Thompson, and Andrew Wiggins all played roughly 30 minutes of action.
Golden State’s inconsistent defense had highlighted their previous preseason games, but offensive struggles driven by careless turnovers were the story on Wednesday. Thompson was an abysmal 2-for-11 from the field, but every other member of Golden State’s rotation was highly efficient shooting the ball. However, they committed 22 turnovers.
Rookie second-round pick Trayce Jackson-Davis, who received the starting nod for Looney, did a solid job slowing down Kings All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, holding him to just 12 points and 10 rebounds on 4-for-10 shooting. While he racked up five fouls, Jackson-Davis ended up recording 13 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
Golden State was a step behind Sacramento for most of the game, only briefly leading in the first quarter. The Kings were led by De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray, who combined for 49 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Near the end of the third quarter, the Kings extended their lead to 18 points and seemed in position to coast to a win.
However, Curry and Paul did not let the Warriors go away that easily. The Kings had an 11-point lead with three and a half minutes left in regulation. Paul sparked a 7-2 run to bring the Dubs back within single digits and in the final two minutes Curry was unstoppable. Steph scored all 13 Warriors points in the final two minutes, which proved to be just enough to pull off the comeback.
Sacramento led 114-110 with 45 seconds left in regulation, but Curry cut the lead to one with a wild bank three. After holding the Kings scoreless, Warriors big man Dario Saric was fouled and went to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game and take the lead. However, he missed both attempts.
With the shot clock off, the Warriors fouled Kings guard Kevin Huerter and sent him to the line. He made the first but missed the second attempt, putting Sacramento ahead 115-113 with 11 seconds remaining. Curry got the rebound and called timeout. The Warriors gave the ball to Curry coming out of the timeout, and he nailed a 30-foot stepback three in Fox’s face to give the Warriors a 116-115 lead with five seconds remaining. Fox tried to answer as time expired but missed. Curry finished the game with 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the field (8-for-12 from three).
