Curry, Green lead Warriors to win over Kings

The Golden State Warriors didn’t play close to their best, but they did enough to get a much-needed 117-113 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Stephen Curry led the way with 37 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in with 19, while Draymond Green recorded his 13th triple-double of the season with eight points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.

The Dubs struggled to find consistency against an undermanned Kings squad that is without its best player in De’Aaron Fox. Sacramento pushed the pace and kept coming at Golden State throughout the game.

It was close in the fourth quarter, but the Warriors found a way to win despite Curry only scoring four points on free throws. Curry did make an impact on the defensive end when he came up with a huge block on Richaun Holmes that kept Golden State up by three.

The Dubs led by two late and former Warrior Harrison Barnes had a chance to put the Kings up, but his 27-foot jumper rimmed out, giving Golden State the victory.

With Curry struggling in the final quarter, Oubre stepped up and hit some big shots to keep the Dubs in it. Green also had several nice dishes and kept his teammates involved throughout the night. But the defense struggled to contain the Kings. Rookie Tyrese Haliburton was able to penetrate too easily and Buddy Hield hit some clutch shots, but the Warriors were able to get stops down the stretch when they needed them.

“We’ll take it. It was not our finest hour, particularly the first quarter when we gave up 39 points,” head coach Steve Kerr said following the win. “Our defense improved and we were able to squeak it out. But that was a really difficult game and we were lucky to escape with a win.”

The game got off to a fast start. The Dubs couldn’t slow down the Kings in the opening quarter. Barnes had 14 points in the first as Sacramento shot a sizzling 62.5 percent from the field. Curry had 11 points in the first 12 minutes, and Golden State trailed 39-32 after one.

The Dubs’ sloppy play carried over to the second. The Kings had a nine-point advantage with just over six minutes remaining in the half when the Warriors began to turn things around.

Curry returned to the court and scored 12 points, including this ridiculous 3-pointer.

Golden State outscored Sacramento by seven to close out the quarter and trailed 65-63 at the half.

The two teams remained neck-and-neck throughout the third as well. The Kings continued to push the pace and held a six-point lead midway through the period. But the Warriors responded with a 26-18 run and held a 94-92 lead going into the fourth.

The Dubs have won eight out of their last 11 games and pulled even with the San Antonio Spurs for ninth in the Western Conference. The Warriors wrap up their three-game homestand with a matchup against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.