Curry drops 32 as Warriors survive surging Kings to tie series 2-2

The Golden State Warriors have tied their best-of-seven series against the Sacramento Kings at two-apiece after surviving a late onslaught to take Game 4 126-125 in San Francisco.

The Warriors were led by Stephen Curry’s 32 points, five rebounds, and four assists on 11-of-22 shooting.

It was Curry’s 61st career playoff game with five or more three-point makes – the highest-mark in league history and 27 more than teammate Klay Thompson, who is second all-time.

Speaking of Thompson, the 33-year-old added 26 points of his own on 9-of-15 shooting whilst Jordan Poole – who started in place of Draymond Green – finished with 22 points and four assists.

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Green put up 12 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists on a dour 3-of-14 shooting off the bench whilst Andrew Wiggins had a solid 18 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.

Green was suspended for Golden State’s Game 3 victory after he was ejected in the previous outing for stomping on Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis’ ribcage during a loose ball battle.

Steve Kerr’s decision to bring Green off the bench for the first time in the playoffs since April, 2014 was a bold one but proved non-detrimental as the Warriors held on for a one-point win.

Both teams battled through a tight opening two quarters before a third-quarter flurry saw the Warriors open up a double-digit lead heading into the fourth.

A 15-4 run in the opening two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter saw the Kings wrestle the lead back off the Warriors before 10 Curry points in the final nine minutes helped Golden State regain control.

With less than 45 seconds remaining and in possession of a five-point lead, Curry was trapped whilst bringing the ball up the court and called for a timeout – which the Warriors were out of – awarding Sacramento a technical free-throw and possession in what was an uncharacteristic and poorly-timed blunder on the nine-time All-Star’s part.

Malik Monk hit the free-throw before De’Aaron Fox made a superb triple to bring the Kings within one with 28.7 seconds remaining.

The Kings opted not to foul and instead watched on as Curry short-armed a strangely-rushed, top-of-the-key floater with 14.1 on the clock.

Off the timeout, Sacramento put the ball in the hands of De’Aaron Fox – who was named the NBA’s inaugural Clutch Player of the Year last week.

Doubled, Fox whipped a pass to Harrison Barnes – who won a championship with the Warriors in 2015 – on the wing but Barnes was unable to convert on a potential game-winning three as time expired.

The series produced another classic with neither team giving the other an inch – both squads made 14 threes, pulled down 44 rebounds, and finished with 50 points in the paint.

Fox was again sensational for Sacramento finishing with a game-high 38 points on 14-of-31 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and five assists whilst rookie Keegan Murray had 23 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-7 from three.

Monk added 16 points and five assists off the bench whilst Sabonis had 14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and two blocks.

The series shifts back to the Californian capital on Thursday for a pivotal Game 5; the team that wins Game 5 in a series tied at two has gone on to win 82 per cent of best-of-seven series in NBA playoff history.

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