Curry drops 50 as Warriors surge home to win Game 7 in Sacramento
May 1, 2023
An historic, 50-point outing courtesy of reigning Finals MVP Stephen Curry has willed the defending champion Golden State Warriors to a 120-100 Game 7 win over the Sacramento Kings to set up a highly-anticipated, second-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Curry finished with 50 points – a playoff career-high and the highest mark ever by a player in a Game 7 – on 20-of-38 from the field – the most shots he has ever taken in an NBA game – and 7-of-18 from three to go along with eight rebounds and six assists.
30 of his points came in a second half in which the Warriors outscored the Kings 64-42 en route to a decisive, do-or-die win.
Curry was not the only Warrior who showed out in an historic fashion; Kevon Looney put up 11 points, 21 rebounds, and four assists to join Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond as the only Warriors in playoff history with three 20-rebound performances in a single series.
Looney’s menacing skills on the offensive glass paved the way for the Warriors to pull away from Sacramento in the second half.
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In the third quarter alone, the UCLA product pulled down seven offensive rebounds to spur on a huge, Golden State run.
Klay Thompson had a tough night shooting finishing with 16 points on 4-of-19 from the field whilst Andrew Wiggins added 17 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-16 shooting.
Draymond Green finished with eight points, six rebounds, eight assists and a pair of steals whilst Gary Payton II added three rebounds and four blocks in just 16 minutes off the bench.
The first half was tightly contested with neither team building a lead in excess of a half-dozen as the Kings took a two-point lead into the locker room.
Looney’s rebounding and Curry’s scoring earnt the Warriors a double-digit lead heading into the fourth before things went south quickly for Sacramento.
The Warriors finished with 18 offensive rebounds and committed just seven turnovers whilst hitting 15 threes.
Both teams struggled from the line – the Warriors made just 19 of their 30 attempts and the Kings just 16 of 27.
Golden State’s championship pedigree was on full display after a disheartening Game 6 loss in San Francisco.
The Kings were led by Domantas Sabonis’ 22 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists whilst De’Aaron Fox – who played with a broken index finger on his shooting hand – gave them 16 points and six assists on 5-of-19 shooting.
After putting up his highest-scoring half of the series, Sabonis did not score again until midway through the fourth quarter and had a nightmarish time keeping Looney off the glass.
Terence Davis had 14 points on 4-of-10 from three for the Kings whilst Malik Monk added 14 points and nine rebounds of his own.
Despite the finish, Sacramento had a remarkable year; Mike Brown won the Coach of the Year award and Fox was named the Clutch Player of the Year as they snapped their 16-year playoff drought and took the defending champions to seven games.
The Warriors will now face LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ Lakers who are coming off a 4-2 series win against the two-seeded Grizzlies.
Since overhauling their roster at the trade deadline, the Lakers have won 23 of their past 33 and demolished Memphis by 40 points to close out their first-round series.
In each of their four wins versus the Grizzlies, they had a different leading scorer and it was not James on any of the four occasions.
The Lakers lost to the Warriors on opening night but went on to win their next three games against the defending champions to claim the season series.
The series will tip off Wednesday in San Francisco with the winner advancing to face either Denver or Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals.
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