Warriors’ Klay Thompson sinks Kings in final second

In Wednesday’s 102-101 win against the Sacramento Kings in San Francisco, Klay Thompson scored a disputed jumper from right inside the free-throw line with two-tenths of a second left.

These early-season games were rematches of the Warriors’ seven-game first-round playoff victory over Sacramento last season, and Golden State advanced to 2-0.

There were 15.8 seconds left in the game after Domantas Sabonis put Sacramento up 101–100 with a 20-footer from just over the foul line. The Warriors had the ball in their possession without a timeout, but they couldn’t release Stephen Curry, their top scorer with 21 points.

The ball instead found Thompson, who, with the clock ticking down and no other options, drew close enough to shoot the game-winning shot.

It was the Kings’ second defeat in as many days against their Northern California rivals; with two-tenths of a second remaining, they used a timeout to move the ball, but they missed an alley-oop inbounds pass.

Despite being outrebounded 48–36 and committing 18 turnovers—three more than the Kings—the Warriors prevailed to win their fourth consecutive game after an opening home defeat to the Phoenix Suns.

With his team-high point total, Curry went 4-for-10 from beyond the arc, while his teammates made only 7-of-21 shots from beyond the arc. Even without injured guard De’Aaron Fox (ankle), the Kings were able to equal the Warriors’ 33 points in the paint.

For the Warriors, Dario Saric scored 15 points, Andrew Wiggins and Thompson both ended with 14, Draymond Green had 13 points and nine assists, while Jonathan Kuminga had 12 points.

In his 28 minutes of play, Green had two steals and two blocks. Unfortunately, he was unable to participate in Friday’s 122-114 victory against Sacramento owing to an ankle injury.

The Warriors’ top rebounder, Kevon Looney, also had six points and six assists.

With 23 points and 11 rebounds, three of which were offensive, Sabonis led Sacramento in scoring. The Kings were able to stay in the game despite shooting only 40.9% because they grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.

In addition to scoring, Sabonis set a new franchise record with eight assists.

The Kings, who have won and lost in their first four games this season, were led by Malik Monk (16 points), Harrison Barnes (14 points), Davion Mitchell (13 points), Kevin Huerter (11 points), and Keegan Murray (10 points).