Getty Malik Monk #0 of the Sacramento Kings goes up for a shot against Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors.
Fresh off his five-game suspension, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green could not stop himself from getting into another trouble. He fell into the Sacramento Kings’ trap that hastened the Warriors’ downfall.
Green’s technical foul with 9:39 left sparked the Kings’ comeback from a 24-point first-half deficit with a 124-123 escape act on Wednesday, November 29, on Malik Monk’s game-winner.
“It was the momentum that we needed,” Monk told reporters, referring to Green’s technical foul. “(Coach) Mike (Brown) was telling us all game that something was going to happen. Make the refs make a call. We just stuck with the game plan.”
Draymond heated after no call. Got tech on next play 👀
The Warriors’ 107-98 lead evaporated in a Sacramento 13-3 run sparked by Monk’s free throw off Green’s technical foul.
And to add salt to the wound, Green’s turnover — his fourth in the game — during the final 30 seconds led to Monk’s Hail Mary shot with seven seconds left.
MALIK MONK GAME WINNER 🔥
INCREDIBLE‼️
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was left scratching his head.
“I was really disappointed last night that he got the tech, reaction, the foul afterwards because the momentum really swung back towards Sacramento,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game.
Green returned to the Warriors starting lineup to a loud boos from the sold-out Golden 1 Center crowd. He finished with eight points on 3-of-8 shots, six rebounds and three assists. The loss eliminated the Warriors from the In-Season Tournament. They dropped to an 8-10 record, outside the top 10 in the Western Conference.
Monk fired 21 points off the bench for the Kings, who beat the Warriors for the first time this season.
Warriors Hit With Key Injuries
Just as when Kerr gets the complement of his full roster, injuries struck in their loss to the Kings.
Gary Payton II and Chris Paul, key cogs of their second unit, left the game with different injuries.
Paul is day-to-day, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with a lower leg contusion. But Payton II wasn’t as lucky as Paul. The defensive specialist is out indefinitely with a torn right calf, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Paul is averaging 8.9 points and 7.3 assists in his first season coming off the bench. On the other hand, Payton II’s defense will be sorely missed.
Moses Moody stepped up in their place, rattling off 11 points in the fourth quarter before Kerr’s controversial decision to pull him out doomed the Warriors down the stretch.
Moses Moody’s Benching Down the Stretch Explained
Kerr’s decision backfired as the Kings outscored the Warriors, 10-4 in the final 4:26 of the game.
“Moses was awesome [Tuesday night],” Kerr told reporters after the loss that eliminated them in the In-Season Tournament. “We needed to get [Andrew Wiggins] on the floor for defense against [De’Aaron] Fox, and we decided to go with Klay [Thompson] and our vets. We thought about keeping him out there, but we made the move that we made.”
Moody started the night out of the rotation with their roster complete. But he seized the opportunity when Paul and Payton II fell to injuries.
Moody shot 4-of-4 from the field, including 3-of-3 from downtown as he scored 11 of the Warriors’ first 12 points in the fourth quarter. It went downhill from there.