San Francisco – Stephen Curry scored 47 points and put the load on his back. The Warriors got their first win after losing their last five games. While the second unit still needs work, Curry wasn’t about to start the homestand with another loss. Golden State rallied back to defeat the Sacramento Kings 116-113.
Stephen Curry scored a season-high 47 points (prev. 39, 11/3 at ORL), the second most in the NBA this season, behind Ja Morant’s 49 points (10/21 at Houston)… Curry extended his NBA-record 3-point streak to 199 consecutive regular season games. Tonight marked Curry’s 28th career 45-point game (Warriors 23-5 in those games).
According to the Elias Sports Bureau — since the start of the 1977-78 NBA season, when turnovers were first tracked as an individual statistic — no player, had a game with at least 47 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists with no turnovers – Stephen Curry is the first to do so… He has tallied 30 points in eight of the teams first 10 games, a career best to start a season… He is averaging 32.6 points over that span… Prior to tonight, the last time Curry tallied at least 47 points was on 3/14/22, a 47-point outing vs. WAS.
Stephen Curry talks carrying the load and finally a win:
“I would just say that Steph was just breathtaking,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “He’s obviously one of the greatest players of all time and he plays so well on so many nights, but this even seemed like something special for him, 17-for-24 with eight rebounds and eight assists, no turnovers. Hitting every big shot.
He just put us on his back. The other guy’s played with the great energy I thought the starting group did everything necessary to win the game. Wiggs [Andrew Wiggins] with a couple of big threes, Klay’s defense, Draymond and Loon were all fantastic, but that was just Steph Curry deciding we were going to win.”
The Warriors improved to 4-1 at home this season (0-6 on the road), tonight Golden State shot 50 percent-or-better for the fourth time this season, improving to 3-1 in those games. The Warriors held the Kings to an opponent-season low .407 from the field (prev. .422, 10/29 at CHA). Golden State snapped a five-game losing streak with tonight’s victory, the team’s longest losing streak dating back to an eight-game streak from 2/5 to 2/27/2020. The Warriors scored a fourth-quarter season high 37 points (prev. 35,10/21 vs. DEN).
Draymond talks Curry’s 4th quarter:
Draymond Green scored 11 points, grabbed a season-high-tying eight rebounds (done three times) and had six assists. Golden State got off to a great start but lost their lead until late in the fourth. The Kings watched their lead disappear once Curry got hot in the fourth. De’Aaron Fox had 28 points and six assists. Malik Monk added 24 points, six rebounds and Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Sacramento’s final possession was a missed three-point shot to try and tie the game.
“We were just trying to pressure him up man and not make him comfortable,” Monk said. “In the third quarter though they made a little run and we were a little too lazy and got him his rhythm. Steph do what Steph does man. Hats off to him.”
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Steve Kerr pregame press conference
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING:
Steve Kerr talks about the importance of voting:
ON JONATHAN KUMINGA ENTERING THE REGULAR ROTATION:
“I think the first 10 games have been about looking at certain combinations and I think we need to find better combinations for JK to play with. He’s been out of the rotation for the last week or two, but he’ll be back in there tonight, and hopefully the groups we have them out there with will complement him and vice-versa.”
ON THE TEAM’S BENCH PLAY IN THE FIRST MONTH OF THE SEASON:
“I don’t think we have had a defined second unit. The early season rotations have been a little bit jumbled for a number of reasons. The minutes restriction with Draymond (Green) and Klay (Thompson), but also really giving different guys looks. We don’t have anything solidified yet. There will be a different look tonight and going forward for at least the next few games and we’ll give that a look. I think the big thing is we are still learning our team. Guys are finding roles and we are getting a good look at how we can best put them together to give us the best team going forward. We are still in that process.”
ON THE ROLE OF JAMYCHAL GREEN:
“JaMychal is a really good player. I think it’s always hard to go to a new team when you are vet and have to find a role and have to figure out a role. I think we’ll be looking at him a little bit at the five rather than the four. He’s such a good rebounder, three-point shooter and screen setter. I have no doubt that he is going to play a role for us this year, but we have to change the look for sure. So part of that will be scaling down looking at some smaller lineups and fitting guys in where we think that might be more comfortable.”
Photo by Warriors/Twitter