The Golden State Warriors seemed in control of the game, up by 24 just before halftime and comfortably in control through most of the third quarter — win the game by more than a dozen and the Warriors were moving on to the quarterfinals of the In Season Tournament and putting an end to a streak where they had dropped 7-of-9.
Then the Sacramento Kings stormed back behind De’Aaron Fox and won the game behind a Malik Monk banked-in game-winner that was just gritty like the Kings. Stephen Curry missed the chance to answer and the Kings are moving on in the tournament.
MALIK MONK CALLED GAME.
— NBA (@NBA) November 29, 2023
KINGS WIN THE GAME AND WEST GROUP C 🏆 pic.twitter.com/GdQ0XW9iit
Fox deserves credit for another All-Star level performance leading the comeback and scoring nine of his 29 points in the fourth quarter.
De'Aaron Fox dropped 29 PTS, 9 REB, and 7 AST as the Kings won West Group C and advanced to the In-Season Tournament Knockout Rounds 🏆 pic.twitter.com/treWyQ4kVw
— NBA (@NBA) November 29, 2023
For the Warriors, there are just questions. How bad are the injuries to Chris Paul and Gary Payton II, who had to leave the game due to them? Why would Steve Kerr take out his hottest player in Moses Moody — 11 points in the fourth quarter — to lean on veterans who were not getting the job done? How can this veteran team give up a 6-0 run to close out the game and lose? Then there was Draymond Green, who in his return from a five-game suspension was himself for both good and bad, including picking up a fourth quarter technical foul in what ended up being a one-point game.
Steve Kerr said after the game the Warriors are not in a free fall. Maybe not, but they are not looking anything like a championship-level team, either — they are 8-10 and the 10 seed in the West right now. There is no simple switch to flip with this team, there are a lot of things they need to start doing better simply to compete in a deep West.
The kind of things the Kings are doing nightly now since they have gotten healthy.
