NBA News Wire
Warriors 121, Kings 96
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Guard Stephen Curry scored 23 points and the Golden State Warriors needed merely an ordinary performance from guard Klay Thompson to beat the Sacramento Kings 121-96 at Sleep Train Arena on Tuesday.
Thompson scored 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting in his first contest against the Kings since scoring 52 points — including an NBA-record 37 points on 13-for-13 shooting in the third quarter — against them in Golden State’s 126-101 win in Oakland on Jan. 23. Thompson, who set a Warriors mark with 11 3-pointers in that game, made only two of five from long range in this one.
Guard Andre Iguodala and forward Mo Speights each scored 17 points, and guard Leandro Barbosa added 12 for Golden State, which beat Sacramento for the eighth straight time. The Warriors won all four meetings this season by an average of 21.3 points per contest.
Center DeMarcus Cousins scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half for Sacramento and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Cousins has had double-doubles in 12 of his past 13 games and 25 of his past 28.
Forward Rudy Gay scored 20 points, and guard Ben McLemore scored 18 and made four 3-pointers for Sacramento, but the Kings (17-30) still lost for the ninth time in 10 contests. Sacramento, which fell to 6-17 under coach Tyrone Corbin, has not won back-to-back contests since November.
Guard Darren Collison also added 18 for Sacramento.
The Kings jumped the Warriors early, with McLemore scoring 13 points en route to a 22-14 lead. But Golden State scored the game’s next 23 points, as the Kings went scoreless for a 7:05 stretch spanning the first and second quarters.
The Warriors never looked back after that, building their lead to 63-42 by halftime, and leading by as many as 24 points late in the fourth quarter after Sacramento sliced the lead to 91-80 late in the third quarter.
The Warriors finished the first half with 22 assists and had 33 for the game, their 19th contest with at least 30 assists this season.
NOTES: The Warriors played the first of 11 road games they will play over their next 13 games. Golden State hosts Dallas on Wednesday, then closes the first half with four road games (Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Minnesota) in six nights. After a nine-day break, the Warriors host San Antonio on Feb. 20, then play six road games (Indiana, Washington, Cleveland, Toronto, Boston, Brooklyn) in nine days. … Warriors F Festus Ezeli was back in uniform after missing Golden State’s previous 18 contests with a sprained ankle. Ezeli played for the first time since Dec. 23. … Kings F Jason Thompson played his 506th game with the Kings. On Wednesday against Dallas, he will move within 10 of G Mitch Richmond for second on Sacramento’s all-time list. He would move within 10 games of all-time leader G Peja Stojakovic on Saturday in Utah. … C DeMarcus Cousins is Sacramento’s first All-Star representative since Stojakovic and F Brad Miller played in the 2004 contest.
