Warriors 115, Kings 113
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Stephen Curry broke a tie by sinking two free throws with 8.6 seconds left, and Andrew Bogut blocked a driving layup by Isaiah Thomas just before the final horn as the Golden State Warriors outlasted the Sacramento Kings 115-113 Sunday afternoon.
In completing a 2-2 trip, the Warriors began their final possession with 12.6 seconds remaining after Kings center DeMarcus Cousins connected on a short hook shot over Bogut for a 113-113 tie.
Curry, a guard who was the Warriors' leading scorer with 36 points, drove past the taller John Salmons and drew a foul on the Kings swingman. He hit both free throws to account for the margin of victory.
Having exhausted all their timeouts, the Kings put the ball in the hands of speedy guard Thomas, who raced through the Golden State defense to within point-blank range of the hoop, only to see his lunging attempt at the hoop denied by Bogut, a 7-foot center.
The win was the second of the season for the Warriors (10-8) over the rival Kings, who won last year's season series 3-1.
Warriors guard Klay Thompson backed Curry with 28 points, almost all of which came on 8-for-11 accuracy from 3-point range. Curry hit five 3-pointers.
Cousins led the Kings (4-11) with 24 points. Guard Marcus Thornton had 21, and Thomas added 19 for Sacramento, which hurt its cause with 24 turnovers that led to leading 25 points for Golden State.
After Thomas capped a comeback that gave Sacramento a 104-102 lead with 3:52 to go, the teams exchanged leads four times before Curry flipped in a driving left-hander to tie the score at 109 with 1:39 to play.
Thomas misfired on a 3-pointer at the other end, and Curry gave Golden State a 111-109 lead on a jumper with 1:01 to go.
Cousins countered with his first of two close-in hoops over Bogut for a 111-111 tie. His second late basket also produced a tie, this one at 113, after forward Draymond Green gave Golden State another brief lead with a tip-in off a Curry miss.
Down by 16 late in the third quarter, the Kings rallied to take their first lead of the second half with a 12-2 burst capped by Thomas' 3-pointer with less than four minutes to go.
Thornton also nailed a 3 during the run, which began with Golden State holding a 100-92 lead with 6:49 left.
Thompson hit three 3-pointers and Curry a pair in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored the Kings 34-37 to go up 90-80.
Both of Curry's 3s came during a 7-0 run late in the period as Golden State turned a nine-point game into its largest lead of the night, 88-72.
Neither team led by more than eight points in a first half in which the Kings committed 16 turnovers.
The Warriors finished with 18 turnovers that led to 23 points for the Kings.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 10 minutes because of a 15-minute power outage that occurred during the player introductions. ... The first 6 1/2 minutes of the game were played without a public-address system. ... The Kings began the day having played the second-toughest schedule in the NBA record-wise. Facing the Warriors (9-8 entering the game) didn't hurt their standing. ... The Warriors flew from Oklahoma City to Sacramento early Saturday morning to complete their four-game trip. The last time Golden State flew to Sacramento, which is just 90 miles away, for a regular-season game was March 20, 2005. ... Asked if his team learned anything from Friday's dramatic, last-second loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors coach Mark Jackson said before the game, "One rebound, one 50-50 ball, one pass can win you a game, a championship. Not just us. You look at the (San Antonio) Spurs (in last season's NBA Finals). You look at Alabama-Auburn."
