National Basketball Association

Golden State Warriors Come Back vs. Kings in Preseason Game

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Golden State Warriors successfully come back against the Sacramento Kings in Thursday’s preseason game.

The Golden State Warriors put on quite the show Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings at San Jose’s SAP Center, scoring the final 14 points to close out the game. The Kings led by as much six in the fourth quarter, failing to score in the last three minutes.

Kevin Durant was the game’s leading scorer, dropping in 25 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field (72.7 percent), 4-for-6 from behind the arc (66.7 percent), and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Durant also had five rebounds, one assist, two blocks, and one steal — all in 26 minutes.

Also in double digits for the Warriors were Ian Clark (16), Stephen Curry (13), and Klay Thompson (11). Curry and Thompson played roughly 25 minutes a piece, while Clark played just 17 minutes, leading the comeback charge late in the fourth quarter to get the win.

DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field (72.7), 2-for-4 from three, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Garrett Temple contributed 13 points, former Warriors player Matt Barnes had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Ben McLemore tallied 10 points.

Things didn’t exactly click for the Warriors like it did against the Los Angeles Clippers last Tuesday night in their first game back at Oracle Arena. The Kings got off to a great start with Cousins proving to be a problem early, pitting him against Zaza Pachulia, who isn’t known for his ability to protect the rim. Had it not been for the two fouls that Cousins picked up early in the first quarter, the Warriors could have very well had a much larger deficit to cover going into the second.

Golden State went down five going into halftime, regaining the lead with a small run right out of the locker room. Both teams continued to trade baskets for much of the second half until Malachi Richardson was able to get the three to go down at the 4:43 mark in the fourth quarter, extending Sacramento’s biggest lead of the game to six.

Richardson was later by fouled by James Michael McAdoo, splitting free throws to put the Kings up 96-91. That would prove to be Sacramento’s last score of the game, however, as Ian Clark was able to hit a three off the assist from Patrick McCaw, following it up with yet another three to earn a 97-96 lead with 2:13 left in the game.

Clark repaid his backcourt mate with a pass the following possession, assisting McCaw for three to push the Warriors lead to four. Clark’s confidence continued to be a factor as he was able to rebound a miss from Cameron Jones, putting it back up to round out his 16 points on the night.

Then in what many would have thought improbable: Sacramento’s Jordan Farmer misses a close attempt at the basket, which is then rebounded by Cameron Jones, passed to James Michael McAdoo standing behind the line in the corner, then dropped in for the dagger three. Unbelievable sequence.

The Warriors improve to 2-1 in the preseason. They will have eight games off until their next game, which will be on the road against Denver Nuggets. Like Thursday night’s game against the Kings, the game against the Nuggets does not appear to be televised, but Bay Area Warriors fans will be able to listen to 95.7 The Game for the call.