Warriors pull off brilliant surge down the stretch to beat Kings 117-109 in overtime
The Sacramento Kings just can’t get over their fourth quarter demons. The team which has
lost 19 of its last 21 games, many of those from a favourable position down the stretch, was finally on the brink of pulling off a famous win over the Golden State Warriors. However Monta Ellis and Victor Radmanovic had other ideas.
Trailing by as many as 16 points early in the fourth quarter, the duo sparked a ferocious resurgence to bring the Warriors within striking distance. Radmanovic
did the rest, as he beat the buzzer to nail a 27-foot jumper and took the match into overtime, before he was quickly mobbed by his team-mates.
In extra minutes it was all Ellis, as the Golden State Warriors finally managed to break their away-game jinx. Radmanovic,
who finally got a chance to play after languishing on the bench for almost the entire season, made his opportunity count big time. Playing for a season-high 28 minutes, the Serbian forward provided the spark that the Warriors had been missing. He notched
up 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals to mark a superb comeback. "I was a couple of feet behind the 3-point line, but the shot felt good, I was confident," said Radmanovic about
his game changing shot.
The Golden State Warriors thundered into a rollicking start, as they scored five points on the trot to start the match. It took the Kings three minutes before they
finally found their shooting touch, and started to claw back at the Warriors lead. The Warriors however refused to back off, and pulled away with a 14-5 run within a span of four minutes, to take a 19-11 lead towards the end of the first quarter.
The Warriors carried their eight point advantage going into the second quarter, and after leading by 10 through most of the quarter, a Reggie Williams’ free throw
gave Warriors an 11-point advantage -their biggest of the match.
The lead though was short-lived, as the Kings zeroed in on the Warriors, reeling off a 12-2 spurt inside the final two minutes to head to the locker room with a single
point deficit. The Kings onslaught didn’t stop there, as they turned the screws on the Warriors to finally surpass them midway through the third quarter, courtesy a Tyreke Evans lay-up
shot.
Monta Ellis countered with a three-pointer, but the Kings were simply unstoppable as they launched a barrage of pin-point shots from both within and beyond the arc,
to romp into the final quarter with an 84-70 advantage. The shots just kept on coming from the Kings as Beno Udrih ripped in a triple pointer at the start of the fourth quarter, to wrest
a 16 point advantage and the scene was set for another Golden State mauling.
The Warriors had other ideas though, as they shored up their defence and snuffed out the Kings attacking threat. The Kings committed 10 turnovers in as many minutes,
as the Warriors chipped away at their lead at the other end. David Lee who was instrumental in pulling off a marathon effort down the stretch said. "What
changed the game for us was defence," He said. "We made stops and got some layups at the other end. We got on a real hot streak at the end of the game. We needed a road win, we had to get this game."
Even with a pugnacious fight back, that featured an 11-0 spurt, the Warriors still trailed by four points with 10 seconds remaining in the match. This is where Radmanovic
took over. He drove down the lane to slip in a hook shot making it a two point game. The Kings however bounced back with two free throws at the other end to restore their four point advantage.
Then came the turning point of the match, as Udrih fouled, handing two charity throws to the Warriors. Reggie Williams stepped up to the occasion to convert one,
and intentionally missed the other as the Warriors after snatching the rebound, made the ball inbound. Radmanovic found the ball in his hands a second before the buzzer, and he let it rip to sink a 27 foot jumper.
The Overtime period marked the offensive wrath of one of the league’s top scorers - Monta Ellis. The phenomenal forward who has scored a total of 105 points in the
last three games, added nine of his 36 points of the night in the crucial period, as the Warriors clinched a 117-109 victory from the jaws of defeat.
Reggie Williams finished with 24 points and Dorell Wright scored 17. David Lee added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who won for only the fourth time
all year on the road.
For the embattled and heart-broken Sacramento Kings Beno Udrih was the game's top-scorer with 34 points, while team-mate Carl Landry came off the bench to fetch
22 points and 10 rebounds. Tyreke Evan shot 4-of-18 from the field, but converted 7-of-8 from the free throw line, as he finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He however accounted for five Kings turn-overs, as Sacramento lost its sixth game
in a row.
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