SACRAMENTO -- 51 games into the 2016-17 NBA season and the Sacramento Kings still find new ways to amaze and befuddle. After dropping a heartbreaking game to one of the worst teams in basketball Friday night, the Kings somehow found a way to take down the 43-8 Golden State Warriors Saturday.
“Big win,” DeMarcus Cousins said. “It shows this team has a lot of character, a lot of fight. Especially coming off the loss we had last night. A complete team effort. I think this was our most complete game of the season.”
Consistently inconsistent is the best way to describe the Kings. In the last two weeks they have now beat both the Cavs and the Warriors, while losing to the 76ers and the Suns. Just when you think their season is over and done with, they figure out a way to surprise you.
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“I hate the fact that we’re a little bit inconsistent,” Darren Collison said after knocking off the Warriors in overtime by a final of 109-106. “You’ve just got to take your wins. I think when we play against the top teams, I think guys are more locked in, they’re playing the right way.”
Outside of an occasional scheduling loss, Sacramento has been in most games. They compete, but often times they make mistakes down the stretch that prove costly.
“Whether we’re playing the defending champs or playing whoever we’re playing, we need to have the same focus and intensity every night,” Matt Barnes said. “That’s how you become consistent and that’s how you become a playoff team.”
Against the Warriors, Sacramento kept the game close from start to finish in one of their more complete defensive games. In a contest with 14 ties and nine lead changes, the Kings held the biggest advantage of the night at eight points and they never trailed the Warriors by more than seven.
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Cousins led the way with a near triple-double performance, dropping in 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 40 minutes of action, but he wasn’t the only Kings player to make an impact.
“I don’t think one individual made this thing happen tonight, it was every guy on this team and that’s what we’re going to need throughout the rest of the season,” Cousins said.
All 10 players who saw action scored, handed out an assists and all but rookie Malachi Richardson grabbed a rebound.
Darren Collison gave the Kings a 3-point lead in the overtime session with a pair of free throws and finished with 18 points. Willie Cauley-Stein scored 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Barnes grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds and Anthony Tolliver knocked down all three of his 3-point attempts to finish with 11 points. It was all hands on deck.
“That’s a good win - heck of a basketball game,” Dave Joerger said. “Second night of a back-to-back for us and guys competing and staying together and being rewarded for staying together and battling through. It was a happy locker room and they should feel really good.”
With the win, Sacramento improved to 20-31 on the season. The Kings return to action Monday when Rajon Rondo and the Chicago Bulls come through Golden 1 Center.
THE STEVE KERR EFFECT
Kerr lost his marbles with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter and drew an instant ejection from the officiating crew. Kerr got his money's worth following the call as the Warriors bench restrained their head coach and kept him from doing more damage.
The ejection appeared to have two major effects on the game. Following Kerr’s removal, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson hit back-to-back 3-balls to wipe out the Kings’ five-point lead and take a one-point advantage late in the third.
Secondly, be it coincidence or a direct result, the Warriors finished the third quarter without drawing another personal foul and somehow survived the fourth without a whistle as well. Andre Iguodala picked up a call 16 seconds into the overtime session, making it 15 minutes and 50 seconds without a personal.
“It’s funny, I don’t think I’ve ever been in an NBA game and a team goes an entire quarter without a foul,” Cousins said. “That’s unheard of. With us facing that type of adversity, we still found a way to pull it out. But I’ve never witnessed that or seen that in my entire career.”
In defense of the officiating crew, the Kings were called for just four personals over the same stretch as they allowed the action on the floor to dictate the outcome of the game.