Steph Curry versus LeBron James. Lakers versus Warriors. Bring it on.
The Sacramento Kings were one of the NBA’s best stories this season, ending their playoff drought with a 48-34 record to be a surprise third seed in the Western Conference.
But the fairytale came to an abrupt end on Monday morning [AEST] as Curry stood up when the defending champions needed him most, inspiring a 120-100 win in Game 7.
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Curry had 50 points, eight rebounds and six assists in the victory, eliminating the Kings in the process and setting up a Western Conference semi-finals series against LeBron and the Lakers.
It was an NBA record for most points in a Game 7 victory as the Warriors sent a warning to L.A. after the Lakers disposed of the Grizzlies to book their spot in the semi-finals.
The game was well and truly in the balance until the third quarter, where the Warriors dominated on the offensive glass and Klay Thompson started to heat up.
Until that point Thompson had struggled, shooting just 1-for-10 in the opening half as Curry put Golden State on his back. That all changed in the third period. Well, not everything.
Curry was still clutch, scoring eight of Golden State’s first 13 points as the Warriors went up 69-62 — marking the biggest lead of the game at that point.
But Thompson had the other five points and finished with 12, starting to find his rhythm from deep and capping off the quarter with a four-point play after he was fouled by Terence Davis.
That would have been disappointing for Kings coach Mike Brown but what was even more concerning was the way Sacramento was outhustled on offensive rebounds.
The Warriors had 13 offensive rebounds in the third period — tied for the most they have had in any quarter in the last 20 seasons, regular season or postseason.
Golden State also had 11 second chance points and entered the final quarter up 91-81 against an inexperienced Sacramento team that was on the ropes.
“They just out-worked us and it was disappointing to see,” Kings coach Brown told ESPN after the third quarter.
The third quarter ended up being a killer for the Kings, who made a promising start to Game 7 on the back of solid contributions from their second unit.
Sacramento took a 31-30 lead after the opening quarter, with Domantas Sabonis (seven points, three assists) making an impact and Davis leading the bench (six points from four minutes).
De’Aaron Fox had a rough start for the Kings, starting the game 0-for-3 as was the case for Malik Monk — who had starred in Sacramento’s previous wins.
The Warriors put Gary Payton II in for the first quarter early, something that had not happened for a number of games but did so with the clear intention of trying to slow Monk down.
It worked too, with Payton blocking a Monk fadeaway and doing well to disrupt him early before being subbed out after picking up three fouls in seven minutes.
Curry led the scoring for Golden State after the first quarter with 10 points and continued to build on that early haul in the second, finishing the half with 20 and three assists.
In spite of that it was still Sacramento up 58-56 before the third quarter, with Curry keeping Golden State in it as Thompson (1-for-10 FG, 0-for-4 3P) struggled to get going.
The Kings, on the other hand, were led by 16 points from Sabonis and Monk, Davis and Trey Lyles chipped in with some handy 3-pointers.
Sacramento had done a solid job on the offensive boards, with seven to Golden State’s two at that point but that obviously changed dramatically in the third quarter.
Falling behind early off the back of that burst from Curry and Thompson, the Kings were in desperate need of some stops on the defensive end — and shots of their own falling.
But the NBA’s clutch king quickly found himself in foul trouble as Fox picked up his fourth with over seven minutes left in the third quarter.
It forced Brown to sub out the Kings guard, although in the end even a few buckets from Fox would’ve done little to stop Golden State as Curry continued to heat up in the fourth.
Curry had 14 of Golden State’s first 16 points to open the quarter as the score quickly blew out and the Kings were eliminated from playoff contention.
Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Lakers Schedule
Game 1: Wednesday 3nd May @ 12pm, TNT [Tuesday 10pm ET]
Game 2: Friday 5th May @ 11am, ESPN [Thursday 9pm ET]
Game 3: Sunday 7th May @ 10.30am, ABC [Saturday 8.30pm ET]
Game 4: Tuesday 9th May @ 12pm, TNT [Monday 10pm ET]
Game 5: Thursday 10th May @ TBD, TNT [Wednesday ET]
Game 6: Saturday 13th May @ TBD, ESPN [Friday ET]
Game 7: Monday 15th May @ TBD, TBD [Sunday ET]
JIMMY BUTLER INJURED AS HEAT CONTINUE TO FIRE
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Miami over New York 108-101 on Sunday but suffered a right ankle injury that stole some joy from the Heat.
Miami seized a 1-0 lead over the Knicks in the best-of-seven NBA second-round playoff series, which continues Tuesday at New York, but the focus of the next two days will be Butler’s status.
“No idea,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
“You just don’t know with ankle sprains. I don’t even know if we will know more by tomorrow. We’ll just have to wait and see. It will be a waiting game.”
Asked after the game how his sore ankle felt, Butler said, “Like a rolled ankle.”
There was an intense atmosphere for the Knicks and Heat at Madison Square Garden, which had not seen a second-round playoff contest since 2013.
Butler’s heroics led Miami to a do or die win over Chicago in a play-in game and then to an upset over NBA wins leader Milwaukee in the first round.
“We’re just playing great basketball,” Butler said.
“We believe that we can do something special. We’re going to continue to play as such and we’re going to see where we end up.”
The game and Butler’s ankle turned when Butler fell to the court grabbing the ankle with the Heat leading 95-92 and 5:05 to play.
As Butler planted his right foot to drive to the basket, falling Knicks defender Josh Hart’s foot struck Butler’s foot to cause the injury.
Butler limped to the bench but returned to make two free throws and remained in the game.
“He did not want to come out of the game so we left him in,” Spoelstra said.
Often standing in a corner far from the run of play, Butler was largely stationary and the Knicks did not force him to try and actively defend.
“Find a way to win,” Butler said of his reason for staying on the court. “Be out there. Be a presence. I didn’t do too much except airball a three. But I’ll take the dub (W).” With Butler hindered, his Heat teammates stepped up. Gabe Vincent made a 3-pointer and Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry added hoops in a 7-0 run to give Miami a 104-94 edge.
“Our group has learned to compartmentalise and focus on the job at hand,” Spoelstra said. “We’ve learned to get the job done.”
After a Knicks free throw ended a scoring drought of nearly four minutes, Lowry added two free throws to give the Heat it’s largest lead at 106-95 just 43 seconds from the end.
“Kyle in the fourth quarter was so important,” Spoelstra said.
“We were able to get the ball to him and he made a lot of important plays.”
Lowry scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half.
“He’s a winner,” Butler said.
“He’s our leader whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. He’s a champion. He has been doing a great job for us all year long. He’s one of the engines that help us go and we’re going to ride that wave.”
The Knicks, who are 0-7 in the playoffs when losing the series opener at home, were led by 26 points from R.J. Barrett and 25 from Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks were without two-time All-Star forward Julius Randle, who was sidelined with a left ankle sprain. He suffered the injury in a victory over Miami last month and aggravated it in a first-round series-clinching triumph over Cleveland.
— with AFP