Kevin Durant had 44 points and Klay Thompson made the game-winner in a thrilling victory over the Kings.
Klay Thompson put back his own miss in the closing seconds and the Dubs made a series of defensive plays in the final five seconds to win a 117-116 thriller over the Kings on Saturday at Oracle Arena.
Thompson’s game-winner started a chain of unusual events to end a game that saw 15 lead changes and 15 ties. The Kings had 5.8 seconds to take and make a game-winner of their own. They took the ball out to Buddy Hield, who attempted a challenged shot at the rim. Marvin Baggley III tried to tip it in, but the ball got stuck between the rim and the backboard, resulting in a jumpball with 2.1 seconds left. On the ensuing jump, Durant tapped it in to the backcourt, but the Kings recovered and called timeout, giving themselves one more chance to win the game. But Damian Jones deflected the inbound pass, and time expired on the Dubs’ second win in as many games.
The win capped an incredible performance from Durant, who had 17 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter. Durant also had 13 rebounds and seven assists, finishing with his seventh double-double of the season while making a season-high 16 of his 17 free throws.
Thompson had 31 points, marking the second straight game that both he and Durant each had 30-plus, and Jones tied his career-high of 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including seven of the Dubs’ first nine points.
After going 2-1 over the last four days, the Warriors will close out their four-game homestand on Monday night against the Magic, and the first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a special Splash Brothers edition bobblehead, courtesy of Kaiser Permanente.
More notable moments from Saturday's win:
- The Warriors improved to 14-7 (.667) overall and 10-2 (.833) at home... Golden State is 7-1 (.875) at home versus the Western Conference (8-6 versus the Western Conference overall)… The Warriors have won 19 of their last 23 matchups versus the Kings (1-0 this season).
- The Warriors completed their fifth back-to-back of the season (4-1 record in second game of back-to-backs)… Golden State has swept two back-to-backs this season, split two and was swept in one.
- Tonight marked the second-straight game (third all-time) Kevin Durant (44) and Klay Thompson (31) have both scored 30-plus points in the same contest for the Warriors (2-1 all-time when that occurs)… The last time two Warriors players to each score 30-or-more in two-straight games: March 23, 2016 – Stephen Curry (33), Klay Thompson (32); March 25, 2016 – Curry (33), Thompson (40)… The other Warriors teammates to accomplish the feat all-time: Corey Maggette and Monta Ellis, Rudy LaRusso and Fred Hetzel, Wilt Chamberlain and Paul Arizin… Tonight marked the second time Durant and Thompson have combined for 70-plus points (2-0 when that occurs).
- Golden State recorded 54 rebounds to Sacramento’s 47 and is now 11-2 (.846) this season when outrebounding its opponent (4-0 when grabbing 50-plus rebounds).
- The Warriors scored 117 points and are now 13-2 (.867) when scoring 110-or-more this season.
- DeMarcus Cousins (left Achilles rehab), Stephen Curry (left groin strain), Draymond Green (right toe sprain) and Alfonzo McKinnie (left foot soreness) were out tonight… Golden State is now 4-5 this season without Curry in the lineup and 4-4 without Green.
- With tonight’s sellout crowd of Oracle Arena (19,596), the Warriors have extended their streak of consecutive sellouts to 303… This marks the fourth longest active-sellout streak in the NBA.
- Kevin Durant scored a season-high 44 points (previous: 41 on October 26 at New York – second outing of 40-plus this season, 53rd of his career), also leading the team in rebounds (13 – one rebound shy of his season-high mark), assists (seven) and blocks (two – also a game-high mark)… He made 16 free throws on 17 attempts, both his most as a member of the Warriors… Durant recorded his seventh double-double of the season and his third in the last four games… He scored the team’s first 12 points of the fourth quarter and 17 of the Warriors 22 fourth-quarter points.
- Klay Thompson tallied 31 points (12-26 FG, 5-12 3FG) for the second-straight game, his fourth outing of 30-plus points this season.
- Kevon Looney led all reserves with seven points (3-3 FG, 1-2 FG) in 13 minutes on the floor, adding four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
- Jonas Jerebko led all reserves with nine rebounds, adding four points and two assists in 21 minutes.
