ORACLE ARENA — Purple-clad Sacramento fans swarmed by the busload to Oakland Saturday night for the first Warriors-Kings matchup of the regular season.
The Splash Brothers made them wonder why they made the trip.
Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry scored a combined 49 points in the 98-87 win over the Kings, proving that preseason was no indication of the Warriors’ full potential.
Though coach Mark Jackson has seen his two star shooters light it up on more than one occasion, he said he’s still impressed when it happens:
“These guys put a lot of time into it, they have an incredible gift and it’s a beautiful thing. Very fortunate to have a front row seat watching those two guys shoot the basketball.”
Despite the efforts of the the Kings, the Warriors maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second half, never allowing Sacramento to get within less than 11 points.
Kings head coach Michael Malone — previously Warriors assistant coach — was visibly upset with his team following the loss, saying he felt like he was coaching effort the whole night:
“If we think we can show up to a very good basketball team in their house and just go through the motions, what going to happen is what happened tonight; we’re going to get our ass kicked.”
After a back-and-forth first few minutes, the Warriors finished the opening quarter on a 12-5 run. Ball movement proved valuable for Golden State who assisted every one of their scoring shots in the first frame.
With just 3.0 seconds left in the first quarter, Draymond Green hit three from the top of the arc sending the crowd to their feet.
Immediately following Green’s three, Ben McLemore silenced the crowd heaving the ball from beyond half court and banking in a buzzer-beater end the quarter 27-17, Warriors.
The second quarter turned into a Andrew Bogut vs. Demarcus Cousins wrestling match that ended with Cousins racking up his second and third fouls on back-to-back possessions.
The Kings went on an 8-0 run coming out of halftime, looking like a different team. The Warriors took a timeout and answered with Thompson scoring back-to-back threes to put the Warriors up by 18.
Thompson was happy to have another productive night at home but was more impressed by the facilitating effort of the team:
“It was a great win for us and most importantly we shared the ball. We had like 30 assists so it was beautiful.”
With just over eight minutes left in the third quarter, Iguodala threw a lob to Bogut who dunked, then ran down the court blocking a Cousins shot with ferocity.
Coach Jackson said holding Cousins to just eight points for the night was a result of the team staying true to their defensive principles and executing the game plan:
“He’s a heck of a basketball player that is having an outstanding start to this season—a handful. So give credit to Andrew Bogut and the job that he does for us anchoring our defense.”
The Kings were forced into a timeout when a Curry three-pointer topped off a Warriors 15-0 run that made the score 71-44 in favor of Golden State with 6:12 left in the third.
The game clock ticked away as rookies took to the floor to finish the game in garbage time.
The Warriors trailed for just 23 seconds in their two blowout wins — both home games — against Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Now 2-1, the Warriors head out on a four-game road trip before returning home to face the Pistons Nov. 12.
The Warriors are now 186-185 all time against the Kings. … Golden State’s starters outscored Sacramento’s 75-22. … The Warriors have scored 338 points through the first three games of the season, the most they’ve scored through their first three contests since 1994-95. … The Warriors held the Kings to 34.5 percent from the field, the lowest field goal percentage a team has shot this season. It ties the lowest percentage the Kings have ever shot against the Warriors in the team’s Sacramento era. … Stephen Curry crossed the 5,000-point mark for his career, fittingly enough on a three-pointer in the second quarter, finishing the game with 22 points and 12 assists, his first double-double of the season. … Klay Thompson finished with 27 points, giving him an average of 32.5 points in two games at Oracle. The Warriors are 11-2 when Thompson scores 27 or more.
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Last modified November 4, 2013 11:39 am
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