Revitalized Warriors cruise past Kings to snap 3-game skid
Kevin Durant recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Golden State Warriors ended a three-game slide with a 112-96 victory over the host Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at Golden 1 Center.
Klay Thompson returned from a thumb injury to score 25 points as the Warriors won for just the fourth time in their past 11 games. Quinn Cook added 10 points for Golden State, which received eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists from Draymond Green.
Buddy Hield scored 19 points and De'Aaron Fox had 15 points and eight assists for Sacramento. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Willie Cauley-Stein tallied 12 points apiece for the Kings, who lost their fourth straight game and sixth in the past seven.
Golden State reserve guard Patrick McCaw was taken off the court via stretcher after being undercut while scoring a basket with 41.8 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sacramento's Vince Carter bumped his right shoulder into McCaw's left leg and the 22-year-old fell to the floor in pain and rolled around on the ground before eventually being stabilized by paramedics.
The Warriors said McCaw was transported to nearby UC Davis Medical Center.
Thompson missed the previous eight games with a fractured right thumb. The Warriors were without All-Star guard Stephen Curry (knee) for the fourth straight game, and forward Andre Iguodala (knee) also sat out.
The Warriors were leading 88-69 at the time of McCaw's injury. Cook replaced him to shoot -- and make -- the free throw, and Golden State added four more points to close the quarter and take a 24-point lead into the final stanza.
Durant scored 17 points and Thompson added 14 as Golden State held a 57-49 advantage at the break.
The Warriors used a 19-2 spurt that began in the first quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a 35-25 lead with 9:47 left in the second quarter. They led by as many as 11 before taking the eight-point edge into intermission.
Golden State opened the third quarter with a 7-2 push to open up a 64-51 lead. Durant hit two free throws to make it a 16-point margin with 2:46 left in the period.
--Field Level Media
