SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State overcame Stephen Curry’s mistaken time out call in the final seconds to hold off the upstart Sacramento Kings, 126-125, Sunday to even up their first round NBA Western Conference playoff showdown.
Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at the Kings Golden 1 Center in Sacramento with the teams knotted at 2 games apiece in the best-of-seven series.
With the Warriors leading 126-121 and having the ball with 42.4 seconds to go, Curry inexplicably called a timeout when the team did not have one.
The Kings converted the technical free throw and De’Aaron Fox then hit a 3-pointer to pull Sacramento to within 126-125 with the clock counting down.
Curry then missed a 2-point floater from the foul line, giving the Kings a chance to steal a victory but Harrison Barnes’ jumper clanked off the rim and Golden State came away a winner.
The blunder overshadowed another outstanding game from Curry, who scored 32 points, dished off 4 assists, pulled down 5 rebounds and had only one turnover.
Klay Thompson added 26 points, Jordan Poole chipped in 22 and Andrew Wiggins scored 18 for the Warriors.
Draymond Green, back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension, came off the bench to score 12 points, pull down 10 rebounds and dish off 7 assists.
But it was Green’s fourth quarter defense that helped keep the Kings at bay.
Fox led Sacramento with 38 points, rookie Keegan Murray chipped in 23 and Domantas Sabonis scored 14 but only had 7 rebounds.
After trailing at the half, the Warriors drew even at 74-74 at the 8:35 mark of the third quarter on a Wiggins layoff and, defensively, Green kept Fox at bay, limiting him to 6 points in the stanza.
With Poole scoring 7 points and Thompson hitting a 3 at the buzzer Golden State led 102-94 going into the 4th quarter.
In a game of runs, Fox and Curry put on a show in the first half. Fox scored 21 points, pulled down 4 rebounds and dished off 4 assists to power the Kings to a 69-65 halftime lead. Meanwhile, Curry kept Golden State in the game, scoring 13 points in the half while turning the ball over just once.
The Kings went on a 24-8 run at the end of the first quarter and start of the second to take their biggest lead of the half 45-36 with 9:09 remaining.
Then, spurred on by ruckus Chase Center crowd, the Warriors wove together defensive stops and timely baskets to tie up the contest 45-45 on a 9-0 run that ended with 7 minutes to go in the half.
Fox’s 3-pointer with seven seconds left gave Sacramento the 4-point half time advantage.
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