Kings take a 2-0 lead over Warriors
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points and made a backbreaking three-pointer that led the playoff newcomer Sacramento Kings to a second straight victory over the defending champion Golden State Warriors, 114-106 on Monday night.
The Kings closed the game strong after Golden State’s Draymond Green was ejected for a flagrant foul and became the first team to take a 2-0 series lead over the Warriors in the Stephen Curry era.
The Warriors will try to get back into this Western Conference series when it shifts less than 90 miles southwest to San Francisco for Game 3 on Thursday night.
The game got heated in the fourth quarter when Green stomped on Domantas Sabonis’ chest with 7:03 to play and was ejected.
Fox’s three-pointer made it 107-101 with 2:17 to play and the Kings were in control from there.
Sabonis added 24 points for Sacramento and Malik Monk scored 18 off the bench.
Curry led the Warriors with 28 points but made just three of 13 from three-point range as Golden State struggled to get going offensively. The Warriors committed 22 turnovers.
Phildelphia 96, Brooklyn 84: Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris had 20 apiece, and the 76ers beat the Nets for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference series.
Embiid was quiet offensively, going six for 11 from the floor, but he did just about everything else. The most-valuable-player finalist had 19 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
Harris had 12 rebounds. James Harden scored only eight points on three-for-13 shooting for the 76ers after a sensational Game 1 .
Cam Johnson led the Nets with 28 points and Mikal Bridges scored 21.
Notes
Nobody blocked more shots per game, nor had better defensive numbers at the rim this season, than Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., who was named the NBA’s defensive player of the year. Jackson had 56 first-place votes for 391 points. Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez was second (31 votes, 309 points), followed by Cleveland’s Evan Mobley (8, 101) . ... Milwaukee coach Mike Budenholzer expressed cautious optimism regarding Giannis Antetokounmpo’s availability for Game 2 against Miami after the two-time MVP left their playoff opener with a bruised lower back. Budenholzer said he underwent an MRI that was “clean.”