Kings narrowly fall to Warriors in inaugural Battle of NorCal

Despite Keon Ellis's 30-point showing, the Sacramento Kings fell short against the Golden State Warriors in the inaugural Battle of NorCal.

BY BRENDEN NUNES

Jul 10, 2024, 9:02 PM

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In the inaugural Battle of NorCal for The Mitch Richmond Trophy, named in honor of the NBA Hall of Famer who made a significant impact on both franchises, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings by a narrow margin of 91-90.

Sacramento started Keon Ellis, Colby Jones, Mason Jones, Isaac Jones, and Drew Timme while Golden State rolled out Brandin Podziemski, Yuri Collins, Daeqwon Plowden, Jackson Rowe, and Trayce Jackson-Davis.

The Jawad Williams-led Summer League Kings started slow in the opening quarter, scoring just 17 compared to the Warriors’ tally of 30. A handful of turnovers led to easier buckets for the opposition than they would have preferred, and long-distance conversions were few and far between.

Their offensive struggles continued in the second frame, only reaching 38 points to the home team’s 59 by the end of 20 minutes — second-year guard Colby Jones ended the half with 10 points and 10 rebounds as Sacramento recorded — six-year veteran Kevin Knox led the way for Golden State with 14 points at the midway point.

Apparently, the Kings were saving it for the third. Coming out of halftime, the group was able to slow down the Warriors’ offense, bog up the lanes, and convert on the other end with a 20-3 run in the first 5:44 minutes of the quarter to cut the lead to four.

A Keon Ellis three cuts the deficit to two 💥 pic.twitter.com/HJcMKahchi

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) July 11, 2024

It didn’t take long for Golden State to respond with a run of their own. By the end of three, the lead had been re-extended to double digits, Kings trailing the Warriors 75-65. Exciting stretches from both sides led to a tight one down the stretch, as the Kings seemed to trail slightly for most of the game but never laid down.

Down three with less than 30 seconds left, two-way player Mason Jones hit a huge and-one layup through Podziemski, converting the free-throw to tie the score.

MASON JONES AND-1 TO TIE IT pic.twitter.com/9xXVSNCJ4a

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) July 11, 2024

A late foul call on Keon Ellis, with five seconds remaining on the clock, sent the Santa Clara product to the charity stripe. After knocking down the first, the guard missed the second. As Ellis came down the floor, taking it himself, he pulled up from beyond the arc at the left wing but missed short.

Ultimatley, the Warriors came away as the inaugural Mitch Richmond Award winners, coloring the first frond Golden State blue rather than royal purple.

Ellis ended the game with an impressive scoreline of 30 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one block on 12/21 from the field, including 4/9 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, second-year guard Colby Jones didn’t run up the scorer’s sheet, but made a well-rounded impact with 12 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals on 5/14 from the field.

When is the next Sacramento Kings off-season date of interest?

Now that the 2024 California Classic is over, Sacramento will head to Las Vegas for the NBA 2K25 Summer League.

The Kings will play their first of five games on Friday afternoon against the top-ten pick Zach Edey and the Memphis Grizzlies with action set to tip off at 3:00 PM PDT.

Sactown Sports 1140 will have all of your Sacramento Kings coverage for the Las Vegas Summer League, free agency, and much more!