How Warriors’ seven-minute non-Steph stretch fueled win vs. Kings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Another night in the record books for Steph Curry.
The Warriors’ superstar finished with 20 points Friday night, marking the 700th time in his career he has reached that number, becoming the first to achieve the milestone in franchise history.
Only 21 players have done so ever, and just four current players – Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden. Yet it was those around Curry who led to the Warriors’ dominant 132-106 win against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center.
“I thought Steph was brilliant in the first half,” Steve Kerr said after the win. “He was 2 for 3, and you don’t see that very often where he only gets three shots in a half, but he had six assists and no turnovers and controlled the game.”
Kings interim coach Doug Christie’s game plan was clear from the opening tip: Anybody but Curry. The Kings were picking him up full court and forcing the ball out of Curry’s hands. But instead of forcing the issue, Curry played in the flow of the game and continuously made smart decisions. He took only one shot in the first quarter – a made 3-pointer – and two in the second, missing a three but making a running layup.
When Curry went to the bench near the end of the first quarter, the 2:32 mark to be exact, the Warriors led by three points, 26-23, but then missed their next five shot attempts. A Zach LaVine three with a minute and a half left in the first frame tied it up, and two free throws by Jonas Valanciunas gave the Kings a two-point lead. But in the final 33 seconds of the quarter, a Buddy Hield three at the top of the arc and a Brandin Podziemski layup gave the Warriors a three-point lead again going into the second.
Then came the start of the second quarter, where the non-Steph minutes became even more important. And his teammates didn’t let him down one bit.
“Well, Quinten came in and knocked down three threes right away,” Kerr remembered.
Warriors rookie center Quinten Post didn’t see the floor in the first quarter but was on the court to start the second and made an immediate impact. The 7-footer hit back-to-back 3-pointers two minutes into the second quarter, pushing the Warriors’ lead to nine points on his first make and 10 points on his second. Within the first five minutes of the second quarter, Post scored nine points on a perfect 3 of 3 from deep.
Friday night marked Post’s 18th game in the NBA, but a special first for him. His father, Arjen, was able to travel from the Netherlands to watch his son play in the NBA for the first time. How much does that mean to the 25-year-old?
His answer was immediate.
“Everything, man,” Post said to NBC Sports Bay Area in the locker room. “Ever since I got drafted he hasn’t been able to come over. … It means a lot. He played himself, he’s the reason why I started playing.”
Post did all he could to stay in the moment, keeping his mind solely on the game. Just 15 seconds after Post made his third 3-pointer, the Kings called a timeout. That’s when all the memories came back. The practices. The sacrifice. The dedication. The dream.
“You’re just like, ‘Oh, this is awesome that he’s here seeing this little spurt,’ ” Post said.
The combination of Podziemski, Post, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green played the first five minutes and eight seconds of the second quarter. They were a plus-14, outscoring the Kings 22-8, giving the Warriors a 53-36 lead – all with Curry on the bench.
At one point during the avalanche that saw Warriors fans take over the road crowd, Curry was slated to come back in but Kerr rode the hot hand.
“That group was on a run,” Kerr said. “We sent Steph back and waited until after the timeout to bring him back in, bought him an extra minute and let that group go.”
The deciding factor for so long has been how the Warriors can play not with Curry on the court, but with him on the bench. Staying afloat is a win. Being a plus-14 in a seven-minute stretch affords a parade down Market Street.
Post scored nine points in that span, followed by seven from Podziemski, five from Moody, three by Butler and another three by Hield.
The Warriors were an even zero in the 31 minutes Curry played, and a plus-26 overall in the 17 minutes he watched from the bench.
Curry still is the head of the snake. If fangs can be formed around him, the Warriors can be a dangerous team in the final seven weeks of the regular season, ready to rattle the basketball world.
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