April 18 ------ Keegan Murray sank eight three-pointers and finished with 32 points and 9 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings remained alive with a convincing 118-94 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors. De’Aaron Fox added 24 points for ninth-place Sacramento, which controlled the No. 9 vs No. 10 play-in game. The Pelicans will visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, with the winner receiving the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a matchup with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
Stephen Curry scored 22 points for the Warriors, who came in 10th in the West and will miss the playoffs for the third time in five seasons. Curry committed 6 turnovers and his longtime Splash Brother teammate, Klay Thompson, had a forgettable contest by missing all 10 of his shots while going scoreless. Reserves Moses Moody and Jonathan Kuminga each put up 16 points for the Warriors. Golden State’s Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins scored 12 apiece.
The victory was a dose of payback for the Kings, who blew a 2-0 lead in a first-round playoff series against Golden State last season as the Warriors won four of the last five. Harrison Barnes scored 17 points and Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists for the Kings. Keon Ellis added 15 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocked shots for Sacramento, which shot 43.9% from the field, including 18-of-39 (46.2%) from three-point range. The Warriors connected on 41.2% of their field-goal attempts and were 10-of-32 (31.2%) from behind the arc.
Sabonis scored 4 straight points and Barnes followed with a jumper to give the Kings a 97-78 advantage with 9:35 left in the game. Golden State crept within 13, but Murray and Barnes drained three-pointers to push the lead to 105-86 with 6:09 remaining. Barnes added four free throws to make the margin 23 with 4:39 to play. Murray drilled his eighth trey to make it 116-90 with 2:15 left as the Kings closed it out. Murray scored 14 of his 16 first-half points in the opening quarter, and Sacramento led 31-22 after 12 minutes. The Kings were up by 16 early in the second quarter before Golden State pulled within 54-50 entering the break. Kuminga scored 12 in the half for the Warriors.
Sacramento used a 21-7 burst during the third quarter to stretch its lead to 77-62 on Fox’s trey with 5:39 remaining in the period. The Warriors pulled with 81-71 on Moody’s basket with 3:53 left before the Kings took a 91-76 lead into the final stanza. The Lakers will face second-seeded Denver in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 on Saturday, April 20, in Colorado. The Nuggets are the defending NBA champions.
Source: rappler.com
Editor's Note:
LeBron James recorded 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff berth with a 110-106 victory over the host New Orleans Pelicans. D’Angelo Russell added 21 points for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who led by as many as 18 points in the play-in game. Anthony Davis had 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots for Los Angeles.