SAN FRANCISCO -- The Warriors on Sunday night at Chase Center welcomed back Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown with a warm ovation and a sparkling 2022 NBA championship ring. They also sent him home with his third straight loss, thanks to a first-half offensive onslaught that ended in the Warriors' favor, 130-125, after almost seeing their giant lead vanish.
The Warriors opened the game a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, scored on their first four possessions and roared out to a 10-0 lead. Once Kings rookie Keegan Murray entered the game, Sacramento settled the score but never took the lead. That was the story of the night.
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It's not like the Kings' offense was off. The Warriors were just that much better.
But their defense was equally as bad as their opponent. The Warriors went into halftime with an 18-point lead. They were up by as many as 26 points in the third quarter. In the fourth, though, they scored only 17 points to hold on for the win.
Survival is the name of the game. The defense has a ton of work cut out for them, but the Warriors offense once again will be extremely tough to slow down.
Steph Curry led all scorers with 33 points. Andrew Wiggins added 24, as did Jordan Poole, who combined to score only 19 in the first two games.
Golden State Warriors
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors' win that sees them improve to 2-1 on the season.
First-Half Fireworks
Usually scoring 71 points going into halftime is a recipe for success. Not when you allow 89.
There are strong starts, and then there's what the Warriors did in front of their home crowd.
After dropping 39 points in the first quarter, they rewrote the record books over the next 12 minutes. The Warriors put up 50 points in the second quarter, the franchise record for points in the second quarter. Overall, they went into the half with 89 points already on the scoreboard.
That's their second-most ever in a first half and third-most ever in any half. The franchise record for points in a half is 92, when they did so in the first half against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29, 2018. The Philadelphia Warriors scored 61 points in the second half against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962.
Their 89 points also are the most the Kings have ever allowed in a half.
Wherever the Warriors let it fly in the first half, the ball was going in. They shot 67.5 percent (31-for-46) from the field and 55.6 percent (10-for-18) on 3-point attempts. The shots kept splashing in what was nothing short of a clinic.
The Steph Show
Sure, everybody had their way with the Kings on Sunday night in San Francisco. None more than Curry.
As the Warriors dropped their 50-burger in the second quarter, Curry took over. He scored 21 points for the quarter, going 6-for-8 from the field and 5-for-6 from long distance. In the first half, Curry made nine of his 13 shots, including going 6-for-7 on threes. Through two quarters, Curry already had 28 points.
He scored only five more, finishing with 33. Overall, Curry shot 11-for-22 from the field, 7-for-12 on 3-pointers and made all four of his free throws. For the season, Curry is shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep. He has made all 22 of his free throws.
This is the second time of his career he has opened the season with three straight games of scoring at least 30 points.
With his efficiency being off the charts shooting the ball, Curry continued to contribute on the glass by grabbing five rebounds as well.
Rotation Change
Steve Kerr made it a point Friday night after the second unit struggled in the Warriors' loss that he'll be tinkering with different rotations the first few weeks of the season. In Game 3, a change was made.
In the first two games, it was Jonathan Kuminga who was getting early minutes at small forward while playing alongside JaMychal Green and James Wiseman. To add more spacing, Kerr turned to Moses Moody in the second half on Friday night. That decision carried over two nights later.
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Moody was the one getting early minutes this time. Kuminga didn't enter the game until there were 40 seconds left in the third quarter. Even as the Warriors struggled and saw their lead dwindle down in the fourth quarter, Kerr stuck with Moody. Until things became too close, and he turned to Poole.
For the night, Moody played 18 minutes, scored three points and was a minus-8 in plus-minus. Kuminga played seven minutes, scored four points and was a minus-11. The second unit is far from set in stone.