The Golden State Warriors’ three-point shooting and defense were a little better than that of the Sacramento Kings, and the Warriors came away with a 100-92 victory.
The Kings (4-6) shot just 40.0% from the field. Peja Stojakovic had team highs of 18 points and six rebounds. Mitch Richmond scored 16, while Chris Webber had his first double-double of the campaign with 10 points and 12 rebounds. The Kings were hobbled by the fact that DeMarcus Cousins played only six minutes before leaving with an injury, and both Richmond and Vlade Divac battled foul trouble.
Three Warriors scored more than 20 points: Klay Thompson with a game-high 26 points and five three-pointers, Stephen Curry with 24 points and four three-pointers and Wilt Chamberlain with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Golden State, which shot 43.2% overall, made 12 three-pointers to Sacramento’s eight.
Both teams got off to terrible starts shooting in the first quarter, with the Kings making 5 of 22 shots, and the Warriors hitting on 7 of 25. Sacramento wound up with a 20-18 lead at the end of the quarter after ending it on a 6-1 run.
The Kings led for most of the second quarter and took their biggest lead of the game, six points, at 42-36 after Stojakovic hit back-to-back three-pointers. But the Warriors ended the half on an 11-2 run, including scoring the half’s final six points, to go up 47-44 at the break. The Kings wouldn’t lead again.
Curry capped off an 8-2 run with a basket to put the Warriors up 56-48 in the third quarter, and he later hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 10-point lead for the first time at 71-61. It was 76-71 heading to the final quarter.
The Kings got the deficit down to three points four times early in the fourth quarter, but each time the Warriors responded with a basket. A three-point play by Chamberlain with 2 1/2 minutes left made it 96-88, largely putting the contest out of reach.
Next up: the Houston Rockets.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 