SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors remain in the hunt for a playoff spot after beating the Sacramento Kings 119-97 on Friday night.
Klay Thompson scored 29 points and Stephen Curry added 25 and the Warriors picked up only their 10th road win of the season.
Coach Steve Kerr said pre-game there was “no excuse” for the Warriors to let their guard down against the Kings, who were without several key players after securing a playoff spot more than a week ago.
De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter were all sitting out, per coach Mike Brown’s decision. But the Warriors still struggled through sloppy play for most of the game. The Warriors pulled ahead 32-16 after the opening quarter, but careless turnovers by Golden State and hot-shooting by the home team opened the door for the Kings to climb back into the game.
Golden State managed to lead by five heading into the break, though it could’ve been much worse if the Kings did a better job capitalizing on the Warriors’ 12 first-half turnovers.
Out of the break, the Kings kept the Warriors on their toes, but the visitors held on. Thompson buried a corner 3 with 7:05 left in the game to give the Warriors a 20-point lead.
Kerr started to pull his starters with 4:22 remaining in the game.
Kevon Looney pulled down 13 rebounds in the first two quarters, the most he’s had in a half in his career. He finished the night with 16 rebounds, seven assists and six points. Donte DiVincenzo contributed 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting to go with his eight assists and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Jordan Poole struggled after coming in clutch in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s win against the Oklahoma City Thunder. All eight of Poole’s points came from the free throw line as he missed his 10 field-goal attempts.
It wasn’t pretty — Golden State finished with 24 turnovers — but it’s a win. And that’s all that matters for the 43-38 Warriors at this point as they desperately try to stay out of the play-in tournament.
The surging New Orleans Pelicans beat the playoff-bound New York Knicks, who were without top scorers Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, earlier in the night. That alone wiped out Golden State’s chances of locking up a top-six seed Friday.
The Warriors’ fate will be determined Sunday in Portland against the Trail Blazers, who’ve already waved the white flag on their season. A win in their regular-season finale would guarantee Golden State a top-six seed. A loss would put the defending champs in jeopardy of stumbling into the play-in tournament since other teams hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
