SACRAMENTO — The Kings have been waiting for their moment to stand up to the Warriors — their mean, nagging, overbearing Northern California big brothers — dating back to last season.
With 10 seconds to go Tuesday night, Malik Monk squared up Andrew Wiggins, looking for a way around him. Monk got himself just inside the free throw line and, off balance, shoved the ball up with one hand and banked it in, securing the Kings a 124-123 victory.
The win punched their ticket to the quarterfinals of the NBA in-season tournament. But that didn’t matter as much to the Kings as finally standing up to the team that has put them down so many times before.
“We want to win. Obviously, our fans want us to beat Golden State,” De’Aaron Fox said. “A game this close, coming back from down 24, you want to win regardless of if it’s a tournament game or not.”
Midway through the first quarter, as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, what had to happen in the game in Sacramento for either team to advance became clear: The Warriors had to win by 12 or more points to go on to the quarterfinals. Anything else — a Kings win, or a loss by 11 or fewer — and Sacramento would move on.
The Kings went on an 11-3 run to take their first lead since the opening bucket. From there, it was a dog fight, the type that occurs so often between siblings.
Sacramento picked up its energy defensively, forcing the ball out of the hands of Stephen Curry, who scored 29 points, and finally getting Wiggins and Klay Thompson, who finished with 29 and 20 points, respectively, to cool off.
Everyone on the Warriors looked frazzled having to again play without Green — their heart and soul — right after getting him back from his suspension.
The only person who appeared composed was Moses Moody. Moody scored 11 of the Warriors’ first 12 fourth-quarter points. However, he was pulled late in the period. Kerr said it was because Golden State needed Thompson’s veteran offense and Wiggins’ defense, especially on Fox.
Ultimately, though, Brown took a timeout. But he didn’t draw up the final play for any individual player. Instead, his message was for whoever had the best look to take the shot. It wound up being Monk.
Monk didn’t call game, but he said he should have. After suffering through countless “night night” moments by Curry and the Warriors, the Kings wanted to savor this win — the clearing of the mental hurdle of finally getting one over on a nemesis.
At the same time, the Kings fully understand that this win — as satisfying as it is — is just a small part of their overall goals for the rest of the season and into the playoffs, and for the in-season tournament.
“We want to get to Vegas and be one of the first teams to advance to the final four of the in-season tournament,” Fox said.
