SACRAMENTO — The Kings have been waiting for their moment to stand up to the Warriors — their mean, nagging, overbearing Northern California big brothers — dating back to last season.
With 10 seconds to go Tuesday night, Malik Monk squared up Andrew Wiggins, looking for a way around him. Monk got himself just inside the free throw line and, off balance, shoved the ball up with one hand and banked it in, securing the Kings a 124-123 victory.
The win punched their ticket to the quarterfinals of the NBA in-season tournament. But that didn't matter as much to the Kings as finally standing up to the team that has put them down so many times before. «We want to win.
Obviously, our fans want us to beat Golden State,» De'Aaron Fox said. «A game this close, coming back from down 24, you want to win regardless of if it's a tournament game or not.» Midway through the first quarter, as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, what had to happen in the game in Sacramento for either team to advance became clear: The Warriors had to win by 12 or more points to go on to the quarterfinals.