The Golden State Warriors won 126-125 against the Sacramento Kings in a Game 4 thriller in San Francisco on Sunday.
The Warriors survived a crucial late mistake by Stephen Curry as they pulled away from the brink of elimination to tie the series at 2-2 and send the series back to Sacramento.
Curry battled with De’Aaron Fox throughout the game while leading the Warriors with 32 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. But the game nearly unraveled when Curry called a timeout without Golden State.
A technical foul that followed and a Fox 3-pointer with 28.1 seconds left led the Kings to cut their deficit to 126-125. A defensive stop on the next Golden State possession set them up for a potential game-winner with a 3-1 series lead. But Harrison Barnes’ 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game went wide, and the Warriors survived with the win.
Fox scored 12 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter to help cut a 10-point 3rd quarter deficit to 1. He had the ball in his hands to start the final possession, but a double-team by Curry and Draymond Green forced him out. Pass out to Barnes for the final shot. Barnes was open, but the ball bounced off the back of the rim when the final buzzer sounded.
A late Steph miss saves the players
A late stop prevented an ugly collapse as the Warriors took a five-point lead with possession in the game’s final minute. But Curry called a timeout that the Warriors didn’t have with 42.1 seconds left as Golden State took the lead.
The infraction drew a technical foul that forced Malik Monk to make a free throw to cut Golden State’s lead to 126-122.
It also gave Sacramento the ball. After a missed Barnes jumper and an offensive rebound, Fox put the Warriors ahead with a deep pull-up 3 over Green’s outstretched right arm. The shot cut Golden State’s lead to 1, but the Kings never regained the lead.
Outside of his miscues, Curry was in prime form in a game where Golden State needed everything it got from him. The game got off to a hot start as Sacramento took a 32-31 lead into the first quarter. The Kings led 69-65 at halftime, thanks in large part to Fox’s 21-point outburst.
Green started Sunday’s game on the bench in favor of Jordan Poole, who replaced him in Thursday’s Game 3 win, for Domantas Sabonis’ stomp. It marked the first Green bench appearance in a playoff game since 2014. But he left with the starting unit to start the third quarter.
Green’s primary task after halftime was to protect Fox. Golden State limited the Foxes to 5 points in the stanza and led 102-92 heading into the fourth. A Klay Thompson 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer sealed the 10-point margin.
But the Kings were mostly thanks to Fox, whose 12 points in the fourth quarter proved why he’s been voted the NBA’s clutch player. They briefly retook the lead 107-106 on a Malik Monk layup with 9:03 left. But including a couple of curry buckets His toe in a long 2 line Golden State’s lead was extended back to 110-107. The Kings kept things close from there, but never closer than the game’s final 1-point margin.
