Splash Brothers shoot the lights out in Sacramento

SLEEP TRAIN ARENA — The lights went out in Sacramento. Literally.

As Stephen Curry’s face showed on the jumbo screen before the game, a foreshadowing power outage left Sleep Train Arena in darkness.

Curry and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson combined for 64 points Sunday afternoon in the Warriors 115-113 victory over the Kings.

Despite the duo having one of their best shooting nights — Curry with 36 points, just two shy of his season-high, and Thompson with 28 points with a career-high eight three-pointers — the game turned into a typical Kings-Warriors, NorCal rivalry grind.

The power troubles delayed the beginning of the game and continued until 5:24 was left in the first quarter leaving the arena void of music and public address announcing, relying on the crowd as a catalyst for energy. 

Early in the second quarter, Sacramento committed its eighth turnover and, over the next five minutes, turned the ball over seven more times allowing the Warriors to finish a 11-0 run and gain a 41-33 lead.

The Kings came fighting back to tie the game with 8.1 seconds left in the second quarter.  But on a dish from Curry, Draymond Green hit a trey at the buzzer to close out the first half 56-53.

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was impressed with his team’s perimeter defense, and said it best when asked about the knock-down shooting of Curry and Thompson:

“I have a great backcourt with two guys that can light up the scoreboard.  The thing that I love most about them is people fall in love with the shooting … but they compete.”

Curry said the win wasn’t just because of great shooting, but effort from every guy on the court:

“Everybody stepped up and made plays.  Klay hits a big three, Draymond had a big tip-in, Boges comes back and cleans up on the glass on the last play.  Everybody pitched in.”

The Splash Brothers combined for 20 points in the third quarter and were able to push the Warriors in front heading into the final frame with a 10-point lead.

DeMarcus Cousins (24 points) blew past the Warriors defense for a dunk with just over six minutes left in the game.  On the following possession, Bogut committed his fourth foul, setting up Cousins for free throws that cut the Warriors lead to just four.

Marcus Thornton hit his fifth three-pointer after Curry turned over the ball with a bad pass, and suddenly it was a one-point game with five minutes to play and a battle to the finish.

The last four minutes of the game was a back-and-forth tussle that included six lead changes, three ties, and Curry sealing the victory at the charity stripe.

With 8.6 seconds on the clock, John Salmons fouled a driving Curry to send him to the line.  Curry made good on both free throws, giving the Warriors a two-point advantage.

On the Kings’ final attempt, Andrew Bogut blocked Isaiah Thomas’ layup attempt, snagged the rebound and sent the ball soaring at the buzzer.

Harrison Barnes, who finished with 11 points, laughed after the game about the power cutting out during the announcement of team mate Curry:

“It was a precursor.  You know, they didn’t finish announcing him for the starting line up.  We put him out there, he got the MVP chants and then from there his performance speaks for itself.”

The Warriors, now 10-8 overall, face the Toronto Raptors at Oracle on Tuesday.

Notes

The Kings fell to 4-11 overall suffering their fourth-straight loss. … Entering the game ranked second in the NBA in turnovers, the Kings turned the ball over a season-high 24 times (leading to 33 points for the Warriors). … The Kings shot a season high .526 from the field. …  Golden State has now won both meetings against the Kings this season.  … Curry led all scores with 36 points, his third time this season tallying 30 or more points.  … Curry also recorded 10 assists for his sixth double-double of the season.

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