Warriors hang on for nail-biter Game 4 win, even series vs. Kings
Golden State Warriors edge Kings to even series 2-2 heading back to
Sacramento
>Golden State Warriors’ Donte DiVincenzo (0) congratulates teammate
Klay Thompson (11) after scoring a three-point basket against the
Sacramento Kings during the third quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western
Conference first-round playoffs at the Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 23, 2023 at 3:27 p.m. | UPDATED: April 23, 2023 at 6:27
p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/23/warriors-hang-on-for-nail-biter-game-4-win-even-series-against-sacramento/

SAN FRANCISCO — Harrison Barnes had a wide open look at a potential
game-winning 3-pointer. It was exactly what the Warriors wanted.

With 10 seconds remaining and Golden State up one point, the Warriors’
only prerogative was to make sure Kings star De’Aaron Fox didn’t get a
good look. So Draymond Green and Stephen Curry bottled him up on the
deep inbound pass, leaving Barnes open on the wing.

The former Warrior’s shot hit back iron and bounced away as the buzzer
sounded, giving the Warriors a 126-125 win over the Sacramento Kings in
Game 4 on Sunday afternoon and sending the first-round series back to
Sacramento tied at two games apiece.

“You’ve got to make that,” Green said. “We know Fox can make that shot.
He won Clutch Player of the Year…Got to make somebody else beat you. If
he hit it, great shot. He didn’t. Whether he hit it or not, it’s the
right thing to make someone else beat you. He didn’t. It worked. Great
shot.”

>Sacramento Kings' Harrison Barnes (40) takes the final shot of the
game against Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) late in the
fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference first-round
playoffs at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April
23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State’s calculated risk paid off, but if Barnes’ shot hits an
inch shorter, the Warriors would be back on the road down 3-1 with
questions looming about the state of an aging dynasty. That inch gave
them a clean slate, a few lessons learned and perhaps some momentum.

Barnes doesn’t get that shot without the Warriors’ costly late-game
miscue. Up five points with 42 seconds remaining, Curry lost count of
the timeouts and called one when the Kings trapped him on the inbound
pass, not realizing the Warriors had already used their last timeout.
That gave the Kings a technical foul free throw and the ball back on
their end.

The Kings made the most of their opportunity, making the free throw
before Fox hit a second-chance 3-pointer to cut the Warriors’ lead to one.

Playoff experience has been the Warriors’ biggest advantage in this
series, but the mistake came down to collective miscommunication. Head
coach Steve Kerr took blame for Curry’s blunder, saying he didn’t alert
the team that no timeouts remained after he lost a challenge call, and
therefore a timeout, earlier in the quarter.

“I ain’t going to lie, I thought it was the smartest play in the world
when I got the ball,” Curry said. “Turn around and saw the trap,
realized there was no real outlets instead of turning it over. It’s kind
of the heady play, but it turned out not to be. Then I’m looking at the
bench and everybody was shaking their head.”

>Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) reacts next to Golden State
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr after Curry called a timeout they didn't
have against the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the
NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area
News Group)

Poor late-game execution has been a staple of the Warriors’ mediocre
regular season. But the blunder shouldn’t negate the strong fourth
quarter Golden State put together.

They entered the final quarter with a 10-point lead and took a 10-2
Kings run to the face. The regular-season Warriors might’ve caved from
the blow, but the defense locked down after Klay Thompson’s 3-pointer
with three-and-a-half minutes remaining gave them a five-point lead.

A key sequence saw Andrew Wiggins block Fox’s jumper and successfully
contest his second-chance 3-point attempt. Kevon Looney stole the ball
mid-air off Davion Mitchell’s board and pass attempt to get Warriors
possession again. Later, Green re-entered the game and forced a Barnes
miss on a drive and blocked Domantas Sabonis’ layup attempt in the same
sequence.

Wiggins finished the game with four blocks, two in the fourth quarter,
and eight rebounds. Looney followed up his 20-rebound Game 3 with a
14-rebound Game 4 and Green had 10 rebounds with seven assists in his
anticipated return from a league suspension.

>Golden State Warriors' Andrew Wiggins (22) loses the ball against
Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis (10) in the second quarter of Game 4
of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at the Chase Center
in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay
Area News Group)

The game began with Golden State’s significant adjustment before tip
off, opting to start Green off the bench — back from his one-game
suspension — for the first time in a playoff game since 2014. Jordan
Poole started in his place.

It ended with Green taking on the responsibility of defending Fox — who
finished with 38 points, but went 5-for-15 from the field in the second
half with Green on him. The idea to throw another look at Fox, who’d
been defended by Wiggins primarily, spawned from assistant coaches Dejan
Milojevic and Chris DeMarco during halftime.

“I loved it,” Green said. “I wanted to go out and help this team win. So
as far as that conversation went, they just told me, all right, you got
Fox.”

>Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) takes a shot against
Sacramento Kings' De'Aaron Fox (5) in the second half of Game 4 of the
NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at the Chase Center in San
Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area
News Group)

The Warriors nearly blew the game with a blunder, but ultimately their
stars prevailed. Curry played the entire fourth quarter for 43 minutes
total and scored a team-high 32 points on 5-for-11 shooting from 3.
Thompson followed with 26 points as he got hot from the mid-range.

“We understand how we bounced back these last two games,” Curry said.
“The things that we have done differently and the physicality we have
played with. Bottle that up, take it to Sacramento.”

The Warriors and Kings face off again in Game 5 on Wednesday night at 7
p.m. at Golden1 Center, and the win on Sunday guarantees that these
NorCal rivals will play Game 6 back in San Francisco on Friday night. No
team has won a game on the road this series yet.

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>Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a 3-point basket
by Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson (11) next to Golden State
Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) against the Sacramento Kings in the third
quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at
the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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Shayna Rubin | General Assignment Sports Reporter
Shayna Rubin is a Bay Area News Group sports reporter for The Mercury
News and East Bay Times. She covered the Oakland A's from 2019 to 2021
and, most recently, the Golden State Warriors' championship run in 2022.
Shayna is a San Francisco native. She is a graduate of San Francisco
State University with a BA degree in journalism and a MA degree in
broadcasting and electronic communication arts.