Warriors grind out 121-115 preseason overtime victory over Kings

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings 121-115 in an overtime preseason victory on Sunday evening. With Draymond Green already out, Golden State decided to sit Steph Curry and Chris Paul on Sunday night, leaving three of the team’s best players unavailable to head coach Steve Kerr. Young players Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga moved into the starting lineup alongside Kevon Looney, Andrew Wiggins, and Klay Thompson.

The Kings took control of the game early, building a 15-point lead before the end of the first quarter. Kings big man Domantas Sabonis was feasting, finishing the game with 19 points (8-for-11 from the field), 11 rebounds, and 5 assists in 25 minutes of action. Sacramento’s duo of stretch bigs Keegan Murray and Trey Lyles also made the Warriors pay for leaving them open from deep, shooting 6-for-12 from three.

Kuminga led the Warriors on a 12-3 run to start the second quarter before the Kings rebuilt a double-digit lead. Then Wiggins and Moses Moody caught fire late in the second quarter to cut Golden State’s deficit to 59-56 at halftime.

The Warriors led for most of the third quarter but were unable to build more than a four-point lead. Heading into the final quarter, things were all tied up at 83. In a back-and-forth final 12 minutes, Golden State seemed to pull away with a 10-2 run, but Alex Len knocked down a three to pull Sacramento within two.

Warriors guard Lester Quiñones had a layup blocked on the other end, and Jordan Ford made a layup to tie things up 111-111 with 11.8 seconds left in regulation. Kuminga drove the other way before the ball was knocked out of bounds, leaving the Dubs 2.0 seconds to draw up an in-bound play for the win. Kerr drew up a play for an alley-oop, but Podziemski’s pass was too high.

Podziemski continued struggling to score against NBA defenders. He was just 1-for-5 from the field with only 3 points in 32 minutes. Still, he continued to fill the stat sheet in other ways with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and just 2 turnovers.

The Warriors outscored the Kings 8-2 in the first three minutes of overtime, which enabled them to milk the clock in the final 90 seconds and ultimately secure the victory.

Wiggins led Warriors veterans with 20 points in 22 minutes, while Thompson added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field. Kuminga led the team, however, scoring 28 points with five rebounds. Quiñones added 18 points. Moody was 3-for-5 from behind the arc and scored 16 points.