SACRAMENTO – The dragon that has terrorized the Warriors since October, including the first two games of the NBA playoffs, has been conquered.
They won on the road, outlasting the Kings 123-116 Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven first-round playoff series, and move within one victory of advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.
Stephen Curry poured in 30 points, with Klay Thompson adding 25, Draymond Green 21 and Andrew Wiggins 20.
Kevon Looney did his usual heavy lifting in the paint, grabbing a game-high 22 rebounds.
The Warriors can close out the series with a win over the Kings in Game 6 on Friday at Chase Center.
Here are three observations from the Warriors' win.
Golden State Warriors
Late wakeup call, answered
For the third consecutive game in Sacramento, the Warriors committed a turnover in the first minute. They spent all but 30 seconds of the first quarter playing from behind, as the Kings drained eight triples and rang up 36 points.
The alarm sounded in the second quarter, and the Warriors unleashed Thompson and turned up the defense.
The Warriors blanked the Kings from deep (0-of-9) in the second quarter, forced five turnovers and held them to 36.4-percent shooting from the field and outscoring them 27-20. Not coincidentally, Gary Payton II was plus-10 over seven minutes.
Meanwhile, Thompson was warming up. After a five-point first quarter, he rang up 11 in the second on 4-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-5 from distance.
After trailing by as much as nine in the first quarter, the Warriors took a 60-56 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Momentum was generated and retained long enough to hold off a late Sacramento rally.
Draymond responds to the noise
Kings fans had not seen Draymond Green since Game 2 on April 17, when he planted his foot on the torso of Domantas Sabonis and was ejected. They waited nine days to let him know how they felt.
Boos rained down every time Green touched the ball. They got louder when he went to the free throw line. One fan held up a sign: “Draymond NOT invited to my wedding EITHER,” a reference to Green saying he was not among Harrison Barnes’ former Golden State teammates invited to the ex-Warrior’s wedding.
How did Draymond respond? Coming off the bench for the second consecutive game, he delivered 21 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, seven assists and four rebounds. He was plus-12 over 32 minutes.
Not once did Draymond acknowledge the crowd, much less gesture, as he did in Game 2 and was believed to be a factor in him being suspended for Game 3.
Caging Fox
After Kings star point guard De’Aaron Fox torched the Warriors in the first two games, the coaching staff came up with new plan. It worked at Chase Center, particularly in Game 4.
The Warriors tried five different defenders: Gary Payton II, Donte DiVincenzo, Wiggins, Thompson and Green. Fox, playing despite a fractured finger, finished with a team-high 24 points but shot 9-of-25 from the field, including 3-of-10 from beyond the arc.
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After Fox scored nine points in the first quarter, on 3-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 from deep, the relentless procession of defenders took a toll. The man who earned the NBA’s inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award shot 6-of-21 over the final three quarters and was 0-of-6 in the fourth quarter.