BY: MICHAEL SALES — SPORTS ON AIR — CORRESPONDENT
SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings used a 37-point third quarter burst to erase a 17-point halftime deficit and then outgunned the visiting Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter to take a 123-117 win on Wednesday night.
DeMar DeRozan was the hot hand for the Kings, drilling 32 points on an efficient 12-of-21 shooting from the field. Damontas Sabonis had a beasty 26 points and 18 rebounds while Malik Monk added 20.
After the Kings’ fiery third quarter, the Warriors roared back to life and opened the fourth period with three straight 3s to take a 99-92 lead but the Kings responded with a 13-0 spurt to regain the advantage inside a raucous Golden 1 Center.
“We lost our poise in the second half, almost all turnovers were unforced,” Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr told reporters at his post-game press conference. He also credited the Kings for “trapping Steph (Curry)” and “knocking down shots.”
Andrew Wiggins paced Golden State with 22 points and Buddy Hield pitched in 17. But Steph Curry had a quiet 14 points on 6-of-11 from the floor.
The Warriors shot a blistering 46.7 percent from the field (43-of-92) and 45.8 percent from three (22-of-48). But the Kings were hotter — 50.6 percent overall (41-of-81).
It was a morale-boosting win for the Kings who are set to embark on a five-game road swing in Denver, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Oklahoma.
