Kings were making NBA history — until Stephen Curry had one of the best playoff games ever
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Sacramento Kings in the Playoffs
Kings playoffs have arrived! Here’s everything you need to know.
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It took a historic performance to end the Sacramento Kings’ historic season.
The “Beam Team” reached the playoffs for the first time since 2006, re-energized a die-hard fan base and took the defending champion Warriors to the first-ever Game 7 played in downtown Sacramento.
The Kings announced their arrival to the NBA as up-and-coming contenders with their playoff run that made them one of the best stories in the league. But their dreams were dashed by one of the most memorable performances in Northern California history.
As disappointed as Kings fans will be by the outcome, a 120-100 season-ending loss, they’ll have a hard time forgetting the afternoon Stephen Curry came to DoCo and dropped 50 points.
“This is the Game 7 that I’ll forever remember as the Steph Curry game,” Golden State guard Klay Thompson said.
Added Draymond Green: “It takes a special person to show up in an environment like that and do what Steph did.”
The environment Sunday afternoon inside Golden 1 Center was at a fever pitch, sold out with fans in full throat, supporting the home team in one of the biggest games the franchise has seen. The “special person” was Curry, who became the first player in NBA lore to score 50 points in a Game 7.
“That’s why you get paid the big bucks,” Green continued. “That’s why you are who you are.”
The Kings appeared more than game for Golden State in the early going. They took a 58-56 lead into halftime. The bench, a staple of Sacramento’s all season, was outscoring the Warriors’ 25-8. It was the Kings’ strength in numbers that was giving them an edge.
But Curry had gotten going.
Kings coach Mike Brown continued to throw reserve guard Terence Davis at him defensively, largely in an effort to keep Davis on the floor for his shooting (he made three 3s in the first half) rather than Davion Mitchell, who pestered Curry throughout the series as one of the best on-ball defenders in the league. But Mitchell wasn’t pulling Warriors defenders away from their stars. Instead, they opted to leave him open from the perimeter throughout the series while he shot 41% overall.
Curry, 35, had 20 points in the first half — and added 30 in the second. One-handed elbow floaters, scooping and-1 layups, getting to his favorite spots behind the 3-point line off the dribble. Curry’s 50 came on 20-of-38 shooting. He made seven 3s, including a back breaker out of the corner off an inbounds play with 1.1 second on the shot clock as things were getting out of hand for the home team.
Curry spurred a 35-23 third quarter with 14 points, taking the raucous crowd, that became nationally known for being the NBA’s loudest, out of the game.
“There’s no better feeling in the NBA than getting a win on the road during the playoffs,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s the ultimate. And once these guys got over the disappointment of losing Game 6, I think the focus shifted to the opportunity (in Game 7). This is what these guys do. For Steph to be the first ever to get 50 in a Game 7, he’s sublime.”
The Warriors outscored Sacramento 64-42 in the second half behind Curry and the rebounding of Kevon Looney, who had seven offensive rebounds in the third quarter alone, leading to 11 second-chance points.
There were moments Curry started talking back to the fans that made so much noise in the four games played at Golden 1 Center. He grabbed a rebound from a De’Aaron Fox miss with 2:45 remaining and dribbled into the front court as the Warriors called a timeout. The score was 115-91.
Curry slammed the ball with his hand, shouted choice words and made a motion like he was lighting the beam, slamming the button, which the Kings did 23 times at home this season after their wins.
“It’s just the playoffs,” Curry said afterwards when asked about his crowd interaction. “There’s so much built into a series, especially when you go seven games and fans get into it. Especially the Bay Area-NorCal situation, their first time in the playoffs in a long time. All that stuff kinda comes out when you get the job done. Sometimes you’re on the wrong end of it. Sometimes, we had a lot of experience of winning series, so you just let all that out.”
His final stat line: 50 points, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and one turnover. According to ESPN, he’s the first player since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78 to score 50 points in a series clinching game with one or fewer turnovers.
“This is hard,” Curry continued. “Winning at this level, there’s a lot of narratives and commentary. Game to game, you’re trying to block out and just focus on basketball. At the end of it, there’s fun with it, too.”
Kings won the first two games of the series at home before dropping three straight in Games 3, 4 and 5. Then Sacramento had its stirring win in San Francisco to push the series to a winner-take-all Game 7, setting the stage for Curry’s signature moment of the playoffs so far.
“Steph was elite,” Brown said. “He did what he’s supposed to do. He put those guys on his back and said ‘We’re not losing tonight and I’m going to make sure that happens.’ ... Heck of a performance by him.”
Brown was asked what he or the Kings could have done differently to slow him down.
“I guess we could have double-teamed him more,” Brown said, “and allowed somebody else to get dunks like they did early on. A guy like that, you hope that he misses some shots. I still think we could have withstood his barrage if we hit our free throws and boxed out. ... You can’t let (Looney) get 10 offensive rebounds and then us miss 11 free throws.”
Brown, being the coach he is, will likely think about fundamental things like rebounding and free throws — the Kings went 16 of 27 from the line — but he’ll never forget the day his season ended while Curry became the first player to score 50 points in a Game 7.
This story was originally published April 30, 2023 at 7:18 PM.
