The Golden State Warriors were owners of the best record in the NBA for most of the season, but fell to second best to the Atlanta Hawks for a brief period after their consecutive losses to the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz, along with the Atlanta Hawks' amazing 19-game winning streak. The Warriors regained the best record in the NBA (38-8) with the Hawks big win streak being snapped by the New Orleans Pelicans last night and with the Warrior wins over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday and the Sacramento Kings tonight.
The Sacramento Kings came out of the gate playing great basketball on both sides of the court, bursting out to a 20-10 lead after the first six minutes of the game with 11 of those points coming from Ben McLemore. The Golden State Warriors quickly regrouped and were able to take the lead, 23-22, just four and a half minutes later as part of an incredible 21-0 run that helped them get out to a 37-22 lead at the 9:59 mark in the second quarter. The Warriors maintained control for the rest of the first half and led, 63-42, at the end of the half.
The Kings put together their best effort in the third quarter, scoring 38 points in an attempt to come back from a 21-point halftime deficit. Although their offense came alive and picked apart the Warriors defense, their defense wasn't sharp enough in the third quarter, allowing 31 points, to drastically cut into their deficit. They found themselves still trailing by double digits (94-80) at the end of three quarters.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Bogut, and Draymond Green all got to rest the whole fourth quarter, as the Golden State bench kept on adding to their lead in the fourth, holding off Sacramento from putting together any sort of comeback attempt and winning the game, 121-96.
The Warriors bench had an impressive accomplishment tonight, outscoring their starters in the game, 61-60, and outscoring the Kings bench, 61-12.
Equally impressive was the fact that no player on the Warriors even reached 30 minutes of playing time. Stephen Curry saw the most action for the Warriors, as he played just 28 minutes and 34 seconds. In limited minutes, he was able to put up 23 points on 6-of-15 shooting, grab five rebounds, dish out nine assists, and three steals. Andre Iguodala and Marreese Speights contributed 17 points apiece off the bench. Leandro Barbosa has spent much of the season on the bench but was given an opportunity today and had an impressive showing off the bench with 12 points and five assists in 22 minutes.
DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and four blocks. Rudy Gay added in 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Darren Collison and Ben McLemore added 18 points each.
The Warriors will look to keep rolling when they face the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow night. The Kings will next catch the Mavericks on the back end of a back-to-back on Thursday night.