Kings hope crowd can carry them
SAN FRANCISCO — His team huddled up before taking the floor, Harrison Barnes hollered a message to the Kings with their special season on the line: “Leave it all on the floor and take this series back to Sac!”
With spectacular performances on both ends against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the Kings are going home to Sacramento for Game 7 against the defending champions.
Malik Monk can only imagine what a winnertake-all showdown might be like with a chance to extend this long-awaited playoff run as all those supporters try to will their Kings into the second round.
For Curry and Co., there’s no imagining necessary — they know what hostile road environments feel like for elimination games, having been there so many times over the past decade on the way to four titles.
“Man, I never been to Game 7, so I don’t know. I don’t know what to expect,” Monk said. “I just know I’m going to go out there and play 110 percent, give it my all, and continue to do what I’ve been doing, and that’s attacking the rim and making plays for my teammates. So I’m going to be ready.”
Facing elimination, upstart Sacramento shined on both ends and hardly looked to be feeling any added pressure in a commanding 118-99 Game 6 victory on Friday night.
Whenever Curry worked his offensive magic, Monk or De’Aaron Fox or Keegan Murray did something brilliant of their own. With big man Domantas Sabonis in foul trouble, others like
Trey Lyles came through to quiet a fan base dreaming of a Warriors repeat title.
“We’ve put ourselves in a situation where we have to be the team that’s playing with desperation, obviously on the road in a Game 7. There’s a lot of belief that we can do that,” Curry said. “There’s a lot of belief in every single guy that’s going to be out there on the floor, that we can make the necessary adjustments. If it is an energy thing, that’s something you can control and correct it. So you’ve got to embrace the challenge of what’s in front of us and try to go get the job done.”