Brandon Rush stars as Golden State Warriors squeak past Sacramento Kings 93-90 - NBA Recap
On Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings entered this Oracle Arena with just 6 wins under their belt.
The teams have a history of playing out close game and the night was no different as the Warriors just managed to edge out the Kings 93-90.
Brandon Rush starred for the Warriors, pounding 20 points on 6 for 10 from the floor including 4 for 5 from the downtown and 6 rebounds in the 24:32 minutes, on the court. Dorell Wright and David Lee both tallied 15 points each.
Guard Monta Ellis had 12 points while Nate Robinson gathered 11 points off the relief.
The Warriors shot 40.7% from the floor including 8-for-24 from beyond the arc.
Tyreke Evans barely missed a triple-double and led the Kings with a game high 22 points on 9 for 22 from the floor, 10 boards and 9 assists. DeMarcus Cousins pounded 21 points and grabbed 14 boards while Jason Thompson finished
with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Kings shot 42.7% from the floor and also outmatched the Warriors in the boards 53-38. However they committed 18 turnovers in the game, which clearly proved to be the difference between both teams in the end.
An absorbing first half came to a halt with neither team fully in control and the scores 47-45 in favour of the Kings. Kings started the third frame with a 6-2 run to increase their lead to 7 points 53-47 and maintained the lead
in the ensuing passage. With 3 minutes remaining in the frame, the Kings were ahead by 65-58, but Warriors were up to the task and finished the frame with a 9-3 spurt, the score standing at 68-67.
Mark Jackson, the Warriors coach, benched all of his starting lineup in the fourth and the move worked wonders. Not because the Warriors started to shoot better, but for the fact that, keyed by Epke Udoh, they completely shut down
the Kings on defense. That meant that Golden State started the frame with a crucial 16-4 burst, capped by Rush’s downtown strike to change the complexion of a game.
Golden State were now in the driving seat, ahead by as much as 11 points, 83-72, with 5 minutes remaining in the game.
The game though was not yet finished for the Kings as they replied with a magnificent 18-8 run in the ensuing passage to open up the game at 90-91, down the stretch. The period that followed saw the Kings take one timeout after
another and to preserve the seconds, they kepton fouling intentionally. Unfortunately for them, the Warriors kept on converting from the free throw line and wrapped the game.
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