Draymond Green assisted a go-ahead hoop by Kelly Oubre Jr with 1:42 to play and then followed in a Stephen Curry miss 34 seconds later, helping the Golden State Warriors outfinish the visiting Sacramento Kings for a 117-113 victory on Sunday, April 25 (Monday, April 26, Manila time).
A second straight win pushed Golden State (31-30) over .500 in its pursuit of a playoff spot in the Western Conference and gave the Warriors a 2-1 season-series victory over their Northern California rival.
The loss was critical to the Kings (24-36), who fell 6 1/2 games behind Golden State in the playoff chase.
In a game matching teams that had split home blowout wins earlier in the season – the Warriors by 31 in January, the Kings by 22 in March – neither team led by more than 9 points and entered the fourth quarter separated by just 2 points, with Golden State up 94-92.
After 4 ties and 3 lead changes in the final period, the Warriors trailed 111-110 after a Tyrese Haliburton layup with 1:55 to play before Oubre dropped in his big hoop.
Richaun Holmes had a chance to tie the game and put the Kings ahead, but missed two free throws, after which Curry could not connect from the interior. But Green got to the ball first, tipping it in to give Golden State a three-point cushion.
Haliburton got Sacramento within 114-113 on a layup with 18.5 seconds remainijng, and the Kings caught a break when Curry missed one of two free throws with 9.2 seconds left.
But Harrison Barnes, who had hit 5 of his first 8 three-point attempts, misfired on a potential game-winning 27-footer.
Fouled with seven-tenths of a second remaining after grabbing the rebound, Curry capped a 37-point game with two clinching free throws.
Curry’s game-high point total came despite an uncharacteristic 3 misses at the foul line in 11 attempts. He shot 11-for-21 from the field and 7-for-14 on three-pointers.
Oubre chipped in 19 points, Andrew Wiggins 13, Mychal Mulder 11, and Juan Toscano-Anderson 10 for the Warriors, who opened a three-game homestand with a 118-97 win over Denver on Friday. Golden State has won 4 in a row at home.
Green finished with game-highs in rebounds with 14 and assists with 13 to complement 8 points.
Hitting 6 three-pointers, Hield had a team-high 25 points, Haliburton put up 24 to go with a team-high 8 assists, and Barnes delivered 23 for the Kings, who lost for the 11th time in their last 13 games.
Holmes also scored in double figures for Sacramento with 11 points. – Rappler.com
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