Sacramento knocks down champion Golden State for NBA playoff comeback

Stephen Curry’s last attempt, 3-point on one foot, looked furiously like that shot regularly unleashed by Victor Wembanyama from behind the arc with Boulogne-Levallois. But the shot from the leader of Golden State, defending champion and MVP of the last final, did not find the target and Sacramento, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, held on to snatch a first success (126-123) in a Californian derby which promises to be hot.

Between the two neighbors, the end of the match was crazy, in an Arena in fusion and whose effervescence was a good witness of the frustration born of the seventeen years of waiting suffered by the fans before returning to the NBA play-offs (record in history). Curry and De’Aaron Fox exchanged blows, based on 3-point shots, drives and assists during a stunning finish (10 lead changes in the fourth quarter alone).

The Warriors abused the 3-point shot

Dominated under the hoops (50 rebounds, 17 offensive for the Kings against 41), the Warriors also abused the 3-point shot (16 converted out of 50 attempts). This did not prevent them from racing in the lead in the second half, gravitating for a long time around a seven-point lead behind the 30 points of their leader (11/20, 6 rebounds), 21 from Klay Thompson, 17 from Jordan Poole and especially 17 Andrew Wiggins, finally back after a long absence for personal reasons. The latter missed a 3-point shot (1/8 in the exercise on the meeting) in the last moments after a remarkable collective movement, which could have restored the advantage to the Warriors.

But it’s hard to change a team that loses on the road (11-30 for the Warriors this season, only Detroit, Houston and San Antonio have done worse) and Saturday was Fox’s night (38 points including 29 in the second half -time, 13/27, 4/8 to 3 points, 5 assists) and his former friend on the side of Kentucky, Malik Monk, whose impact and aggressiveness were at the service of a performance of choice (32 points off the bench at 8/13, 14/14 on free throws). Domantas Sabonis, whose arrival in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana) coincided with the rebalancing of the Kings, compiled, despite his clumsiness (5/17), 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Second episode of the derby in the night from Monday to Tuesday, again in Sacramento (4 hours, French time). Led 1-0, the Warriors have not lost the first two games of a play-off series since 2007.