‘What every kid dreams of’: Kyle Guy’s game-winning 3-pointer lifts Kings over Warriors
Marvin Bagley III suited up for the first time in 11 months, Hassan Whiteside made his unofficial Kings debut and Kyle Guy got hot, leading Sacramento to a dramatic preseason win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Guy made a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired, giving the Kings a 114-113 victory over the Warriors at Golden 1 Center. The former Virginia star scored 20 points for the Kings (2-1), making 7 of 11 field-goal attempts and 6 of 10 from 3-point range.
“Just to be out there in a situation like that is what every kid dreams of,” Guy said.
The game was the first played at Golden 1 Center since the 2019-20 season was suspended March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bars and restaurants around the arena were closed, DoCo Plaza was empty and cardboard cutouts filled the seats instead of fans, but NBA basketball was back in Sacramento.
Buddy Hield scored 18 points for the Kings, who will play the Warriors again Thursday. De’Aaron Fox had 17 points and five assists. Whiteside had 11 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots in 15 minutes of work. Bagley had nine points and four rebounds.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points to lead the Warriors (1-1), who led by four with 44 seconds remaining. Marquese Chriss had 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Kings had not played at Golden 1 Center since suffering a 118-113 loss to the Toronto Raptors on March 8. They were scheduled to play the New Orleans Pelicans in a nationally televised game with playoff implications for both teams March 11 before the season was suspended.
The world has changed since then — and now former Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry is serving as Luke Walton’s lead assistant in Sacramento — but the Kings were happy to be back on their home court.
“I’m thrilled to be back in here,” Walton said. “It’s crazy. It was nine months ago almost that we walked out of here right before we were about to give Alvin Gentry’s Pelicans a beat down and here we are nine months later and we are thrilled to be playing basketball again.”
Injury report
Walton announced before the game that Bagley and Whiteside would make their preseason debuts after missing two games against the Portland Trail Blazers. Walton said Bagley, Whiteside and rookie first-round draft pick Tyrese Haliburton would be limited to 15 minutes.
Bagley, who missed the start of training camp while recovering from COVID-19, started at power forward in his first game since January. Whiteside, who was held out with a mild right calf strain, came off the bench behind center Richaun Holmes.
Walton noted that Haliburton was not injured, saying his playing time would be limited on the advice of trainers after he logged 30 minutes in Sunday’s game against the Blazers. Haliburton finished with two points and three assists.
Cory Joseph, DaQuan Jeffries and and Jabari Parker were held out for the second game in a row due to back soreness.
The Whiteside effect
The Kings trailed 27-18 when Whiteside made his presence felt late in the first quarter. First, he blocked a shot by Chriss, leading to a dunk by Haliburton. Then he threw down a dunk of his own on a feed from Haliburton. The Warriors also committed a couple of turnovers during that stretch as a result of Whiteside’s imposing presence in the paint, allowing the Kings to stage a 7-0 run to get within two going into the second period.
Whiteside checked in again with 4:26 to play in the first half. He immediately blocked a shot by Mychal Mulder, leading to a 3-pointer by Kyle Guy. A moment later, Whiteside came up with a steal on the defensive end, dribbled up court, made the driving layup, drew a foul and converted the three-point play to put the Kings up 51-39.
Whiteside received some attention from the medical staff after leaving the game. He went down hard after grabbing a defensive rebound late in the third quarter and appeared to have injured his neck.
Kings upcoming schedule
Preseason
Trail Blazers 127, Kings 102
Kings 121, Trail Blazers 106
Kings 114, Warriors 113
Dec. 17 vs. Golden State Warriors, 6 p.m.
Regular season
Dec. 23 at Denver Nuggets, 6 p.m.
De. 26 vs. Phoenix Suns, 7 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs. Phoenix Suns, 6 p.m.
Dec. 29 vs. Denver Nuggets, 7 p.m.
Dec. 31 at Houston Rockets, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 10:43 PM with the headline "‘What every kid dreams of’: Kyle Guy’s game-winning 3-pointer lifts Kings over Warriors."
