Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Worth the wait: Fox, Kings soar
Sacramento in top form, slips past Warriors
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — De’aaron Fox scored 38 points in his long-awaited playoff debut, and Sacramento celebrated its return to the postseason after a record 16-year drought by beating defending champion Golden State 126-123 on Saturday.
The first playoff meeting between the Northern California neighbors lived up to the hype and delighted the raucous crowd that had been waiting for a playoff game since 2006.
The inexperienced Kings closed strong against a Warriors team that won four titles in the previous eight seasons.
After Stephen Curry hit a corner 3-pointer to put sixth-seeded Golden State up 114-112 with about four minutes left, third-seeded Sacramento responded with seven in a row starting with a 3-pointer from Fox, who led the league in regular-season clutch points.
The Warriors cut their deficit to one on a layup by Curry in the final minute. But Andrew Wiggins missed a corner 3 for the lead in the closing seconds of his first game in more than two months.
Malik Monk made two free throws to make it 126-123 with 2.9 seconds left. Curry missed a runner from 3 at the buzzer, giving the Kings their first playoff win since April 30, 2006, against San Antonio.
Monk totaled 32 points off the bench, and Domantas Sabonis had 12 points and 16 rebounds for Sacramento.
Curry led the Warriors with 30 points, Klay Thompson added 21, and Wiggins and Jordan Poole scored 18 apiece.
It was a festive environment in success-starved Sacramento, where fans gathered outside the arena hours before the start of the Kings first playoff game following an NBA record 16year drought.
The arena was deafening starting in pregame warmups, with fans bringing back the cow bells that were so common during their playoff runs two decades ago.
The excitement appeared to take a toll on the inexperienced Kings, who struggled shooting early. Sacramento missed its first seven 3-pointers, shot 39.2 percent in the first half and trailed 61-55 at the half.
The Warriors built the lead to 10 points in the third quarter before Sacramento ended the quarter on a 15-4 run fueled by 10 points from Trey Lyles to take a 91-90 lead into the fourth.
■ Knicks 101, Cavaliers 97: At Cleveland, Jalen Brunson shook off foul trouble and scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half for fifth-seeded New York, which turned back fourth-seeded Cleveland’s late rally in the series opener. Julius Randle returned from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the Knicks’ final five regular-season games and had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Randle’s biggest rebound came with four seconds left and the Cavaliers down 99-97. Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points for Cleveland, which is in the postseason for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals.
■ Celtics 112, Hawks 99: At Boston, Jaylen Brown had 29 points and 12 rebounds for second-seeded Boston, which led by as many as 32 points in the series opener. Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his 25 points in the first half, and Derrick White added 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics. Dejounte Murray had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Trae Young 16 points for seventh-seeded Atlanta, which missed its first 10 3-point tries and finished 5-for-29 from beyond the arc.
■ 76ers 121, Nets 101: At Philadelphia, James Harden hit seven of third-seeded Philadelphia’s postseason team-record 21 3-pointers and totaled 23 points and 13 assists in the series opener. NBA MVP finalist Joel Embiid scored 26 points despite taking only seven first-half shots, and Tobias Harris added 21 points for the Sixers, who didn’t trail. Mikal Bridges, who attended high school in suburban Philadelphia and attended Villanova, led sixth-seeded Brooklyn with 30 points.