‘He’s special’: Stephen Curry’s 3-pointer gives Warriors another preseason win over Kings
Preseason exploits won’t even warrant a footnote in the extraordinary story of Stephen Curry, but the Golden State Warriors star produced another one of his signature moments Wednesday.
Curry made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds remaining to cap a brilliant fourth-quarter performance, giving the Warriors a 116-115 win over the Kings before a raucous crowd at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Curry scored a game-high 30 points to lead six players in double figures for the Warriors (4-0). He poured in 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter, going 4 of 4 from 3-point range to help his team storm back from an 18-point deficit.
“Steph is Steph,” Kings guard Davion Mitchell said. “He’s the greatest of all-time for a reason. He kind of showed that tonight, making big shot after big shot. He’s special, but I think we’ve just got to do a better job of being physical at the beginning and not let him get going because when he gets going it’s kind of hard to stop him.”
De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and seven assists for the Kings (0-4), who will conclude their preseason schedule when they play host to the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back Thursday at Golden 1 Center. Fox, the NBA’s reigning Clutch Player of the Year, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, including a driving layup that put Sacramento up 114-10 with 41.1 seconds remaining.
Keegan Murray had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Kings, who lost to the Warriors in seven games in a memorable first-round playoff series in April. Mitchell came off the bench to score 14 points, all in the first half, going 5 of 5 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3-point range over a span of 4:17. Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Jonathan Kuminga had 18 points for Golden State. Chris Paul came off the bench to post 13 points, six rebounds and nine assists.
“It felt like the regular season to me,” Kuminga said. “It kind of felt like the playoffs a little bit.”
Props for Fox
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had high praise for Fox when asked about the leap he made last season while leading the Kings to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.
“He’s so tough to handle,” Kerr said. “It starts in transition. He’s one of the fastest players in the league, and I think his experience that he’s gained over the years, combined with the way that the Kings put the roster together last year and the job that Mike and his staff did, everything makes sense. You’ve got De’Aaron pushing the ball. You’ve got shooting everywhere and you’ve got Sabonis, who’s kind of the fulcrum offensively running all those dribble handoffs. There’s a reason they were the best offense in the league last year, but it’s always a puzzle in basketball to find the pieces of the puzzle, and it has to fit. I think Sacramento really found a great puzzle and De’Aaron’s a huge part of that.”
From hunter to hunted
Kings coach Mike Brown spent six years on Golden State’s bench as Kerr’s lead assistant before taking the job in Sacramento last summer. Kerr was asked before the game if he has given Brown any advice on going from hunter to hunted after winning 48 games.
“No,” Kerr said with a smile and a laugh. “They’re our rivals. Mike and I love each other and he’s great. He doesn’t need my advice. Mike’s got a lot more coaching experience than I do and he’s been through so much during his time in the NBA – unanimous Coach of the Year last year. He’s doing fine. He doesn’t need my advice.”
Familiar foes
The Kings have now faced the Warriors in 10 of their last 13 regular season, playoff and preseason games dating back to last season. That includes one game at the end of the 2022-23 regular season, seven games in a first-round playoff series and now two preseason games as they prepare for the start of the 2023-24 season. They will add to those totals when they meet again Oct. 27 in Sacramento and Nov. 1 at Chase Center.
Injury report
Kings forward Trey Lyles was ruled out moments before tipoff due to a left calf injury. Lyles felt discomfort in the calf following pregame warmups. A league source told The Sacramento Bee he will be examined by a doctor, but it was not believed to be a serious injury.
This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 11:01 PM.
