Kings take revenge on Warriors
Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown wasn't in a sentimental mood after his team routed Golden State 118-94 in a do-or-die play-in game on Tuesday night.
He had more important things to worry about.
“The reality of it is, is that it's not my problem, and it's not my concern,” Brown said, more focused on planning for the Pelicans and the Kings' second playin game on Friday. “We're getting ready for New Orleans.”
He added that he thinks the trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson are still capable of playing great basketball: “Those three guys in my opinion are special, and I was a part of many championships and good memories with them. Whatever they decide to do at the end of the day, that's what they decide to do.”
The Kings players were happy with, but not overly celebratory, after dispatching the team that eliminated them in the first round last season. Keegan Murray scored a game-high 32 and hit a Splash Bros.-esque eight 3-pointers.
He said that the win wouldn't take away the sting of last year's gutting Game 7 defeat at home, but admitted that getting revenge didn't hurt either.
“It kind of peels the band-aid off a little bit,” Murray said. “They got us last year, and we got them this year under a different circumstance.”
Brown, Murray and guard De'Aaron Fox all credited the team's dedication to physicality as a key to their success on Tuesday.
One player they raved about was defensive savant Keon Ellis, who went from a fringe rotation player on a two-way contract to the defender who helped hold Thompson to zero points in what could be his Warriors finale.