SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors have faced the Northern California rival Sacramento Kings 11 times in their last 17 games including preseason matchups.
“That's probably never happened in the history of the NBA,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
Klay Thompson hit a 17-footer with less than a second remaining and the Warriors held off a second-half flurry by Sacramento for a 102-101 win Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis put the Kings ahead moments earlier on a jumper with 16 seconds to play after Stephen Curry's layup just before in a wild final minute. Curry scored with 33 seconds left following a 24-second violation by Sacramento that gave Golden State the ball for another chance with 38.4 seconds left trailing 99-98.
Curry also made a 3-pointer at the 4:02 mark before Chris Paul's steal helped set up another scoring possession.
Curry scored 21 points and added four 3-pointers to take his NBA-leading total to 28 on a night the Kings missed leading scorer De’Aaron Fox because of a sprained right ankle suffered Sunday against the Lakers.
It wasn't quite the domination Curry has shown the past two times against the Kings. He scored 41 as Golden State won 122-114 in Sacramento on Friday night in a rematch of a thrilling first-round playoff series won by the Warriors in seven games — he had 50 in Game 7.
The Warriors have won seven straight at home in the series with a Kings team coached by former top assistant Mike Brown.
Dario Saric contributed key minutes on both ends for the Warriors and finished with 15 points and six rebounds, often making it difficult for Sabonis driving in the paint. The Sacramento star had 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
“Dario was a huge pick up for us, a guy who can flat out play,” Kerr said. “He was fantastic tonight.”
On one timely 3-pointer early in the fourth, Saric hit from long range off a pretty pass by Paul — who had eight assists 18 years after making his NBA on Nov. 1 against the Kings for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
Saric and Paul clicked as Phoenix teammates, too, so Saric stayed ready knowing the ball would come from Paul and he would “make me look good.”
“Today I cleared my mind and stayed positive the whole game,” Saric said.
Fans of both teams were treated to a back-and-forth battle during Golden State's quick visit home between road games played in New Orleans on Monday night and at Oklahoma City on Friday — eight games in eight cities over 13 days that Kerr said “makes zero sense.”
“It’s huge,” Draymond Green said of finding a way to win this one before hitting the road again. “Everything was stacked against us.”
UP NEXT
Kings: At Houston on Saturday and Monday.
Warriors: At Oklahoma City on Friday in the in-season tournament.
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