Getty Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry argues with an official during a game against the Sacramento Kings.
Playing in their first home game in 10-plus days, the Golden State Warriors needed a win in the worst way on Monday night. And it appeared as though they’d have a golden opportunity to get one with the three-win Sacramento Kings visiting Chase Center.
However, Mike Brown’s club led for the majoritry of the contest and, with just over two minutes remaining, they were still clinging to a lead. Nevertheless, the Dubs were able to prevail in the contest thanks in large part to the efforts of Stephen Curry, who dropped a season-high 47 points on just 24 shots. He also added eight boards and eight assists.
But Steph did more than just put up numbers — he also worked to give his squad a boost of energy and emotion when the chips were down.
With his team trailing in the middle of the third period, Curry suddenly went after referee Matt Kallio after a no-call on a made bank shot. And while there was definitely contact on the play — initiated by Steph himself — the baller had ulterior motives in getting all hot and bothered.
Steph Brought the Fire to Chase Center
During Curry’s interview on the Warriors’ post-game show, analyst Festus Ezeli — who played with Steph for three seasons from 2012-16 — was wise to his old teammate’s intent when he argued the no-call so vociferously. Curry didn’t deny what he was trying to do when the big man brought it up, either.
“I think it’s the mentality of… we just needed a little bit of energy and a little bit of fire,” Curry conceded of the technical foul.
“Draymond [Green’s] been amazing, trying to push the tempo, bring our defensive presence that we haven’t had all year. Our core and our vets, we know how to do it and I just needed to light the fire a little bit, kind of get the crowd into it, get our team into it and let them know we’re here.
“And then the rest of the game is just trying to make winning plays.”
Before the season tipped off — or, more specifically, before the team’s recent 0-5 road trip — fans probably wouldn’t have predicted that this particular game against Sacto would end up being such a battle. For his part, though, Curry cited it as a good reminder that beating any NBA team is difficult to do.
“It’s a lesson still of what level of intensity you need to get to just to win a regular season game.”
Warriors Give Extra Effort on the Glass
On Sunday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr lamented how his team had been boxing out — or, rather, how they hadn’t been doing so — as a key factor in a 3-7 start. The numbers backed that assessment up, too, as the Dubs collected just 46.6% of available rebounds during the aforementioned roadie.
That number ranked just 26th league-wide over that time frame.
Against the Kings, however, Golden State won the battle on the boards by a 48-43 mark. Leading the way was starting pivot Kevon Looney, who managed to snag 13 rebounds in just 20 minutes of court time.