Thornton’s Late Basket Helps Kings Edge Warriors 104-103

 

Sacramento Kings guard Marcus Thornton (#23) celebrates with teammates after making a basket.

Probably the most interesting part of the game between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors was the collision between Warriors guard Monta Ellis and Kings forward/center DeMarcus Cousins.

During the fourth quarter, Ellis drove towards the basket, only to collide with Cousins. It doesn’t take a collision specialist to know who survived that crash. The Warriors trainer had to escort Ellis off the court, leaving Golden State without their go-to guy.

The loss of Ellis would prove to hurt the Warriors as Marcus Thornton would hit a jumper with 12.6 seconds left on the game clock, allowing Sacramenot to rally and edge Golden State 104-103 at Oracle Arena.

The first half was, as expected, fast-paced as both teams were hot. The Kings outscored the Warriors 30-26 in the first quarter while Golden State overtook Sacramento by three in the second, with the Kings taking a slim 60-59 lead to their locker room at the break.

Sacramento, despite the offensive output, was sloppy at times.

They erased their eight-point deficit in the fourth with an 11-0 run to take a 92-89 lead. Then Stephen Curry and reserve Jeremy Lin hit consecutive baskets to put Golden State back on top.

Tyreke Evans followed with a 3-pointer before Thornton’s driving layup gave the Kings a 97-93 lead wiht just over 3 minutes left to go. The Warriors came to within one, and then Cousins was called for a shot-clock violation.

Golden State wasted a chance to take the lead on their next possession as Beno Udrih stole the ball. Thornton would follow with a jumper to put the Kings up by three. Following that sequence was the collision between Ellis and Cousins.

Thornton, with 12.6 seconds remaining in the contest, drained a jumper, putting Sacramento ahead to stay.

Six Kings scored in double-digits, led by Thornton with 21 points, along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists while Cousins added 15 with 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, but also turned the ball over 7 times. The trio of Evans, Udrih and Jason Thompson each chipped in 14 – with Evans grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, along with a block while Udrih grabbed 3 boards, dished out 6 assists, along with 3 steals. Thompson grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 2 assists, along with a block.

The Warriors were led by Curry with a game-high 27 points (including three 3-pointers), along with 6 rebounds, 8 assists and a steal while David Lee added 24 with 14 rebounds, 4 assists and a block. Dorell Wright chipped in 19 with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and a block.

Both teams return to action on Monday as Sacramento (24-56) returns home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder while Golden State (35-45) flies east to Denver to take on the Nuggets.

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