20-20 Vision: Sabonis, Kings hold off Warriors for third-straight win

Nov 13, 2022, 9:55 PM | Updated: 10:28 pm

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 13: Domantas Sabonis #10 of the Sacramento Kings celebrates after...

(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Not even one week removed from Monday night’s heartbreaking loss at Chase Center, the Sacramento Kings were in a familiar position at Golden 1 Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Golden State Warriors, the reigning NBA champions, were on the ropes late as the Kings hoped to knock off their Pacific Division rivals for the first time in over two years.

Steph Curry and Golden State wouldn’t go quietly as they took a 111-109 lead with less than five minutes to go, but Sacramento wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes this time around. The Kings ended the game on a 13-4 run thanks to another closing performance from De’Aaron Fox and a historic outing from Domantas Sabonis as they finished off a 122-115 win over the Warriors.

The win was a noteworthy one for Sacramento as it snapped Golden State’s seven-game head-to-head winning streak as the Kings hadn’t beaten the Warriors since March 25, 2021.

These aren’t the Kings (6-6) that outside NBA fans are used to seeing as they have won three-straight games and six of their past eight contests after starting the season in an 0-4 hole.

Domas muscles the ball in 💪 pic.twitter.com/1UOgQsvYNX

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 14, 2022

The main storyline of the game was Sabonis as the two-time All-Star center acted as a wrecking ball against the Golden State defense.

Sabonis registered the fourth 20-20 stat-line of his career on Sunday as he was simply unstoppable in every way, finishing the night with 26 points (10-of-17 from the field), 22 rebounds, and 8 assists over 34 minutes of play. The 26-year-old became the first Sacramento Kings player to post 25+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 8+ assists in a single game since Chris Webber did so on November 23, 1999.

The Lithuanian big man put a game-sealing stamp on things late as he pulled down an offensive board among four Warriors jerseys and muscled his way to the rim for a bucket, one that gave Sacramento a six-point lead with just two minutes remaining.

With Sabonis taking care of business on the inside, the Kings still needed somebody to chip in down the final stretch of another close game. De’Aaron Fox continued to prove why his new nickname should be ‘Mr. Fourth Quarter’ as the star guard scored 11 of his 22 points during the final period.

Fox has been playing like an All-Star during the opening weeks of play and Sunday’s win over Golden State was no different. The sixth-year guard took over late, shared the ball (eight assists), and had some big plays on the defensive end on a night that he had three steals and one block.

The one blocked shot that Fox had came against Curry on a three-point attempt late in the fourth as the impressive swat kept Sacramento within one.

De'Aaron blocks Steph Curry 😬 pic.twitter.com/U3QAda2A4o

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 14, 2022

Fox and Sabonis leading that way is something that the Kings would love to see on a nightly basis, but the supporting cast needs to do its job as well if this team wants a chance at making a run at the postseason.

Sunday’s win against Golden State was a perfect example of how a supporting cast can do its job as players like Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter were feeling it from beyond the arc.

Murray established a new career-high in made three-point field goals as the rookie scored 21 points on five-of-nine shooting from beyond the arc. After a rough showing on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, the fourth-overall pick looked like himself during the winning effort.

The recent struggles that have been hampering Murray can be attributed to the fact that the 22-year-old has been dealing with some off-the court matters as his grandmother recently suffered from a stroke during Sacramento’s game in Charlotte back on October 31st.

“We are dealing with a very serious family issue,” Keegan’s father Kenyon said of his son’s struggles while responding to a fan on Twitter this week. “My mother had a stroke while attending his game in Charlotte. We keep him updated, so he knows what’s going on. He will be fine. He has a strong family and team around him.”

Murray dedicated his performance against Golden State to his grandmother as the Iowa product shared a message for his grandmother after the win.

“She was able to open her eyes the last couple of days, so I know that she’s watching right now,” Murray said postgame of his grandmother. “I just wanted to perform for her and that’s what we did. We got the win, so I’m grateful she was able to see this.”

Keegan is locked in from deep in the first 🎯 pic.twitter.com/Ggx7bKUVJa

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 14, 2022

When Murray and Huerter are both feeling it, life becomes a lot easier for distributors like Fox and Sabonis.

‘Red Velvet’ finished Sunday’s game with 17 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field and four-of-six from beyond the three-point line. Huerter has hit at least four three-point field goals in seven of his eleven games as a King.

This isn’t your ‘butt of the joke’ Sacramento Kings that opposing fans have been laughing at for over a decade.

After a lackluster start to the season, the Kings have completely turned things around to the tune of a 6-2 record over the past eight games as they now hold a positive point differential on the season (0.1). That differential is nearly microscopic, sure. But if you take into account the fact that Sacramento owned one of the five-hardest opening schedules in the entire league, it makes quite the accomplishment as they sit at .500 through 12 games.

Games like Sunday’s Kings-Warriors matchup are a solid temperature gauge for a team like Sacramento, one that is in the process of clawing its way out of the bottom of the NBA’s ‘pyramid of respect’, or whatever you want to call it. If you’re going to earn respect, you have to win games like Sunday against Golden State and Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Beating the Warriors was a huge step forward for the Kings. It gave new head coach Mike Brown his first win against his former team, and it gave little brother Sacramento a chance to punch back against the big brother Warriors.

It was a back-and-forth affair, a high-powered offensive showcase, and man, was it a good time at Golden 1 Center.

Notes

De’Aaron Fox entered play 0-8 against Stephen Curry in head-to-head matchups. Fox finally got his first win against the two-time NBA MVP.
Stephen Curry, who scored 47 points during last Monday’s win over Sacramento, scored 13 points in the first quarter on Sunday. The 34-year-old only scored 14 more points over the final three quarters.
After the Warriors outscored the Kings 39-26 in the first quarter, Sacramento went on to outscore Golden State 96-76 during the final three quarters.

Coming Up

For the first time in over two years, the Sacramento Kings will appear on a TNT broadcast when they face Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Nets coverage on Sactown Sports 1140 starting at 3:00 pm PST on Cattles & Ramie before action tips off at 7:00 pm PST from downtown Sacramento.

Also: Check out our Sactown Sports Kings Recap Show on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube channel!

Sactown Sports Kings Recap Shows will be happening all season long, immediately following each Kings game!