Kings should have left San Francisco with a 3-1 series lead. Warriors said no way | Opinion
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Sacramento Kings in the Playoffs
Kings playoffs have arrived! Here’s everything you need to know.
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Before this game even started, Kings head coach Mike Brown spoke words that were even more significant by the time this pulsating, heart-stopping, jaw-dropping contest ended with a gigantic sigh of relief by everyone in Golden State gear.
Brown said: “(Whichever team) has the most will probably win.”
On Sunday the Golden State Warriors had just a touch more will than the Kings.
The Warriors also had more skill, more desire, more experience, more poise and, most important of all, more luck than the Kings.
The 126-125 Kings loss evens this series at two games apiece and it makes Wednesday’s Game 5 at Golden 1 Center a must-win for the Kings. If they fail to defend their home court, they will come back here Friday just one loss away from elimination. The Warriors are used to that kind of playoff pressure, they have thrived off and have almost always turned playoff deficits into champagne showers.
They know how to win and the Kings won’t be facing the Warriors team that was terrible on the road during the regular season. They will be facing a Warriors team that hasn’t lost a Western Conference playoff series in 10 years.
Truth be told, the Kings should have hopped their bus back to Sacramento on Sunday with a commanding 3-1 series lead.
If they lose the series, the Kings will rue letting this one get away because they failed to keep their heads in too many critical moments. De’Aaron Fox, the star of the game, seemed to wear out in the fourth quarter. As brilliant as Fox was – he led all scorers with 38 points – he couldn’t get in position to take the last shot. Instead, he dished to Harrison Barnes who came oh-so-close to winning it – but missed off the iron.
Before that, Fox was culpable in a series of turnovers that ultimately decided this game.
Keegan Murray and Malik Monk both hit 3s to start the fourth, pulling the Kings within 104-102 of the Warriors. But Monk also authored two huge turnovers that killed promising possessions.
Then Domantas Sabonis turned the ball over and a chance to pull ahead resulted in two free throws for the Warriors. Fox brought the ball down court and threw it away, again passing up a chance to equalize or go ahead.
And yet, when the great Stephen Curry called for a timeout that he didn’t have, the Kings made a free throw, Fox hit a big 3 and a win was right there for the taking.
But the Warriors defended ruthlessly. They did just enough to bother Fox, and Barnes was practically in Burlingame when he took the final fateful, unsuccessful shot.
Kings showed their mettle
Brown had said before the game that the Kings could be a team that figures out the playoffs in the current cycle and goes for a long run. Or, it might take painful defeat for them to absorb, learn and come back in future years with far more experience.
We will see Wednesday in Sacramento, but, especially in the first half, the Kings showed they could be a team that makes a deep playoff run now.
The first half was easily the most entertaining first half of the four games. After shooting abysmally from three in the first three games, the Kings remembered that they were the most potent offensive team in the NBA. Murray and Fox both made three 3s while Mitchell, Monk and Lyles each hit one. Fox again rose to the occasion, leading all scorers with 21 points.
Fox’s ascendancy is so gratifying given how he labored in obscurity in his first five seasons as a King. He’s always been among the fastest, if not the fastest, player in the NBA.
For a few years now Fox has been able to score when he wanted. He’s had the ability to take over games, single-handedly stopping Kings scoring slumps by draining baskets that serve to lift his team and fill them full of confidence.
But doing all this and more in front of a national audience is having the effect of Fox being discovered, even though he’s in his sixth NBA season. As usual, Fox doesn’t preen or play to the crowd. No, when Fox is Fox, he is insatiable. He wants to score and he wants to win. He brings a toughness that the Kings franchise has traditionally lacked.
Murray had 15 of his 23 total and looked, if not reborn, then re-energized. He became the dynamic rookie he had been for much of the season.
Murray is as stoic as they come. His coach affectionately teases the rookie about his nerd kid demeanor, but after the first three games when was relatively invisible,
Murray lets it fly
Murray’s re-emergence as a legitimate contributor was exactly what the Kings needed.
Right away, Murray stood out. He was suddenly hitting shots, including a 3-pointer. He was active on defense, slapping Warriors passes out of bounds. His struggles in the first three games had become a talking point in the series and Brown was asked about him before the game
Brown’s advice to the youngster: Let it fly. Brown said that the experience that Murray was getting in this series was invaluable and would make him a better player.
Murray began proving it right away so of course, when Draymond Green entered the game, what was his first major contribution? Fouling Murray hard. Murray stayed down for a moment on the floor and soon enough, both Green and Fox had technical fouls for jawing at each other. The Warriors went on a run and opened up a 6-point lead
It was as if the Kings had taken a punch, but they didn’t stagger or drop their shoulders. They dug in and by the end of the first, they led 32-31.
The Kings had passed an intermediate test: They didn’t let Green’s disruptive tactics knock them off their game, but even more important? They were shooting with confidence. With nine minutes left in the half, they had pushed their lead to 9 points.
By this point, the Kings were shooting 7 for 13 from three.
The refs seemed content to let both teams play. There was lots of banging under the rim and the Kings began missing 3s again and suddenly the score was tied 45-45. Their 9-point lead was erased in less than three minutes because they missed three straight 3-pointers.
It was a tight second quarter but the Warriors were getting easy baskets – too easy – by carving up the Kings’ defense.
Then Murray hit a 3-pointer with 4:57 left and you could hear Sacramento fans loudly cheer as Warriors coach Steve Kerr called a timeout.
Sabonis rejected a shot and dribbled upcourt to feed Kevin Huerter and soon enough the Kings were up by 9 again. But the Kings couldn’t hold the advantage and led only by 4 –69-65 – at the half.
The Kings put up a dismal third quarter and a ragged fourth. The Warriors almost handed the game to Sacramento, but Barnes’ shot clanked off the iron.
It was a brutal loss for a young Kings team that now comes home with a season on the line and a test of wills like they have never experienced before.
This story was originally published April 23, 2023 at 3:58 PM.
