SAN FRANCISCO — Faced with a dire situation, the Warriors came out, breathing fire and keeping the flames raging at the Chase Center Thursday night.
Their 114-97 win over the Kings in Game 3 gave Golden State some much-needed breathing space in the first round of the Western Conference playoff series. Sacramento leads 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Five Warriors scored in double digits, with Stephen Curry posting a game-high 36 points, Andrew Wiggins losing 20 points, Jordan Poole losing 16 points, and Klay Thompson and Moses Moody each scoring 13 points.
Without their top two defensemen — Draymond Green was suspended and Gary Payton II was declared too ill to play — the Warriors held Sacramento at its lowest total points of the season when its regulars were in the lineup.
Here are three observations from Game 3:
Steph, Wiggs and Loon
With Draymond and GP2 out, the Warriors knew they had quite a gap to fill. Three players combined to do the trick.
Curry led the offense, his 36 points coming on 12 of 25 shots, including 5 of 12 from long range. On or off the ball, he found an exquisite balance between shooting from deep and driving to the edge.
Wiggins’ 20 points came on 8 of 16 shooting, including 3 of 6 over the arc. He added seven rebounds and was consistently present on defense.
Looney struggled for 31 minutes, finishing with four points and 201 rebounds that was a game high, and also made the evening difficult for Kings big man Domantas Sabonis.
Others contributed heavily, notably Donte DiVincenzo (six points, eight rebounds, eight assists) and Moody, but that win was fueled by the heroics of Curry, Wiggins and Looney.
The corresponding urgency was evident early on
For the first time in the series, the Warriors seemed to feel the heaviness of the moment from the opening spike. After committing turnovers on their first two possessions in Games 1 and 2, they forced one on Sacramento’s first possession.
They dived on the ground for loose balls. Treat the basketball as a valuable item. And he defends himself like a pack of unruly wolves.
Though the Warriors didn’t shoot well aside from Curry and Wiggins and Moody, they closed down the NBA’s best offense.
The same Kings who hit a 71-point half in Game 1 and a 41-point quarter in Game 2 managed 41 in the first half and 72 in three quarters. Sacramento’s overall field goal percentage hovered in the 30s for most of the game and beyond the arc in the 20s.
Only twice this season has the Kings regular lineup failed to score at least 100 points, and the Warriors have made it without their top two defensemen.
Not exactly Roaracle
Twice in the second quarter, Curry became exasperated, yelling and waving his arms. He did not seek a pass or a whistle from the officers.
Curry wanted a little help, not from teammates on the court but from “teammates” in the seats.
The raucous sell-out crowd (18,064) that the Warriors had hoped for materialized sporadically. Reactions to Curry’s admonitions lasted only seconds before reverting to routine regular-season decibel levels.
This was an opportunity to recreate the noise that once made Oracle Arena a house of horror for visitors, and the crowd at Chase’s was relatively tame unless the warriors were on the run.
Considering the high stakes – a gasping dynasty, a loss that brought them to the brink of extinction – this was less than expected and a far cry from the noise made during the first two games in Sacramento.
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