AP – Erasing most of a 24-point deficit assured the Sacramento Kings of advancing in the In-Season Tournament. Malik Monk made sure they did it with a win.
Monk hit a fadeaway with seven seconds left and the Kings rallied late to beat the Golden State Warriors 124-123 yesterday and advance to the quarter-final s of the tournament.
“Doing that in the In-Season Tournament, the first one, it was great,” Monk said. ”It brings a lot more energy in this building.”
The Kings won their group with a 4-0 record and will host New Orleans in the quarter-finals. Sacramento needed a win or a loss by 11 points or fewer but ended up with the victory thanks to a furious comeback fuelled by two late turnovers by the Warriors.
Andrew Wiggins’ tip-in put Golden State up by five with 59 seconds left. But De’Aaron Fox hit a free throw and Monk made a three-pointer following a turnover by Stephen Curry.
Draymond Green turned it over on the next possession, setting the stage for Monk’s go-ahead shot. The Warriors had no timeouts left and Curry missed a three at the buzzer to give Sacramento its first win in three tries against Golden State this season.
“That was just us being resilient,” Fox said. “Just being able to fight back and finish that game off felt good for us. We want to win as many games as possible and that was a game we were able to squeeze out.”
Fox led the way with 29 points, with Monk and Kevin Huerter adding 21 apiece.
Curry and Wiggins each scored 29 for the Warriors, who have lost eight of 10 games.
“We have to stick with it, not to get discouraged about a bad night like tonight, and realise that we’re going home with an opportunity to right the ship,” guard Klay Thompson said. “I still have cold-hearted belief in this team and we can do some special things.”
Golden State got Green back from a five-game suspension for putting Rudy Gobert in a chokehold and he was greeted by loud boos during introductions and whenever he touched the ball. He also got called for a technical foul for demonstratively arguing for a carry violation in the fourth quarter.
The technical riled up the crowd and sparked a 13-3 Sacramento run that turned a nine-point deficit into the Kings’ first lead since the first quarter.
“It was the momentum that we needed,” Monk said. “(Coach) Mike (Brown) was telling us all game that something was going to happen. Make the refs make a call. We just stuck with the game plan.”
Moses Moody helped turn the tide with back-to-back three-pointers for Golden State before the Warriors collapsed down the stretch.
Even with Green’s return, Golden State wasn’t at full strength for long, with Chris Paul leaving in the first quarter with lower left leg soreness and Gary Payton II leaving in the third quarter with an injured right calf.
Paul’s absence didn’t have much impact early, as the Warriors used big first halves from Thompson and Wiggins to build the lead to 24 points in the second quarter before Sacramento cut the deficit to 72-55 when Kevin Huerter hit a layup just before the first-half buzzer.
