Amid a roaring and hostile crowd, as Sacramento launched a vigorous offensive, the Golden State Warriors demonstrated the very essence of their dynasty – a trait they have displayed with remarkable consistency.
They silenced a crowd and came away with a back-breaking road win.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Draymond Green had his highest-scoring game in more than five years and the Warriors earned the first road win of their series against Sacramento, beating the Kings 123-116 Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead.
The Warriors won a road game for the NBA-record 28th straight playoff series, encompassing the entire era of Curry, Green and Klay Thompson.
"The experience that they’ve had over the last decade playing in a lot of big games, it’s helpful," coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought they did a great job tonight of staying poised down the stretch when Sacramento made their run and really made some big plays in the last five minutes to seal it."
Green had 21 points and seven assists in his first game back in Sacramento since getting ejected and later suspended for stepping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest in a Game 2 loss.
Golden State can now try to wrap up the series with a fourth straight win at home on Friday night.
"I think this team has really grown together," Green said. "Every year, that team has to grow together. This year took longer than we normally like. ... it’s starting to go well for us."
The defending champion Warriors showed off their road grit that had been missing so often this season. Golden State won only 11 games away from home in the regular season and lost the first two games in Sacramento before pulling this one out.
"This is a different team than what we had all year," Kerr said. "What happened in November and December and January on the road has nothing to do now. This is the team we’re looking at; it is a team that won a championship last year and a ton of road playoff games. Our guys know how to do it and got it done tonight."
The Kings trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter after a layup by Curry but wouldn’t go away. Instead, they chipped away at the deficit behind 11 points in the next five minutes from Malik Monk – who went down briefly with what looked like a left knee injury – to make it a one-point game with just over four minutes left.
But the Warriors pulled away late after Monk missed a potential game-tying 3 with 1:04 to play.
Andrew Wiggins made a turnaround jumper to make it a five-point game and Curry put it away with a three-point play with 22.1 seconds left that made it 122-114.
Thompson added 25 points, Wiggins had 20 and Kevon Looney matched his career high with 22 rebounds.
"Big night for us," Curry said. "You can feel the sense of accomplishment from everyone on the bench and floor. ... We have work to do. We needed this one."
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points despite a broken index finger on his shooting hand, and Monk and Sabonis added 21 points apiece for Sacramento.
Fox went 0 for 6 from the field in the fourth quarter and was scoreless – the most shots he had ever taken in a scoreless fourth quarter.
"Yeah, no doubt," coach Mike Brown said about whether Fox’s injury impacted him. "He’s shown a lot of toughness being out there in the first place."
Fox started despite breaking the index finger tip on his shooting hand late in Game 4. He played with a splint on the finger and showed no ill effects from the injury, making all three of his long-range attempts in the first quarter to help Sacramento build a 10-point lead.
The Warriors got going in the second quarter with Thompson making three 3-pointers during a 12-0 run that helped Golden State take a 60-56 lead at the half.
"It’s kind of like desperation," guard Davion Mitchell said. "It’s win or go home. ... We must punch them in the mouth first."
Draymond or Dirk
Green was much more aggressive offensively, with his 21 points the most he has scored in a regular season or playoff game since he scored 25 against Phoenix on March 17, 2018. He even made a fadeaway jumper late that had his teammates comparing him to one of the most prolific scorers ever.
"They’re calling Draymond Nowitzki after the fadeaway," Kerr said of the comparison between Green and Dirk Nowitzki. "Maybe the biggest shot of the game."