Kings come back to stun Warriors, advance in tournament - ESPN

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. Anything else — a Kings win, or a loss by 11 or fewer — and Sacramento would move on.

Just minutes after Minnesota's victory, the Warriors made their first push, stretching their lead to 24 midway through the second quarter.

Golden State allowed the Kings to go on runs but managed to keep them at bay. The Kings closed the first half with a 7-0 run to bring their deficit from 24 to 17. In the closing minutes of the third quarter, they cracked the 12-point threshold.

Then in the fourth quarter, the Kings made their push.

«This league is a game of runs,» Fox said. «You just try to win as many segments as you can to win the game.»

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