De’Aaron Fox Led The Kings To A Game 1 Win Over The Warriors In An Instant Classic

The first day of the 2023 NBA Playoffs was a steady build to the marquee game in the nightcap between the Warriors and Kings in Sacramento, hosting their first playoff game in 17 years after snapping the league’s longest postseason drought.

The atmosphere was frenzied at the Golden 1 Center to start the game, with both teams coming out at a frenetic pace, playing to a 29-29 draw in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Warriors were the first to be able to wrestle control of the game, with Andrew Wiggins playing a key role in Golden State moving out to a 6-point halftime advantage in his return after a few months away from the team.

In the third quarter the Warriors would push the lead out to as many as 10 early, but the Kings never let them go on one of their patented big runs to pull away.

After Domantas Sabonis did heavy lifting early in the game, De’Aaron Fox settled in during the third quarter and started to really get it rolling, keeping the Kings within reach while they struggled from deep as a unit — the starting lineup began the game 0-of-15 from three.

However, the Warriors continued to do Warriors things to maintain an advantage, with Draymond orchestrating the offense and Steph knocking down shots seemingly any time the Kings defense fell asleep for even a second on him.

Eventually, though, the lid came off of the basket for the Kings from three, led by Trey Lyles (who hit four off of the bench) and eventually seeing Fox start to see his deep shots fall through, leading Sacramento to a 90-89 lead at the end of three quarters, sending the arena into pandemonium.

The two teams would trade leads in the fourth, with Fox and Malik Monk — who at one point was getting the box-and-one treatment in the second half — carrying Sacramento’s offense and refusing to let the Warriors take control.

On the other side, Curry and Klay Thompson hit big shot after big shot to push them back in front, as the two teams dueled with each other in thrilling fashion.

The final minute of the game was absolute chaos, as the Warriors kept the Kings close but were never able to hit the shot to push them back in front, with Wiggins missing a wide open look in the corner with 10 seconds to go that would’ve put Golden State up two. The Kings then chucked the ball down the floor and earned Malik Monk a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game, setting up a dramatic final 2.9 seconds.

The Warriors were able to get Stephen Curry loose for a runner three at the buzzer, but it went begging off the rim as the Kings emerged with their first postseason win since 2006 in a 126-123 final.

Fox finished his postseason debut with 38 points, five assists, and three steals in a truly sensational performance, as he proved his game absolutely translates to the playoffs. Monk added 32 points off the bench, carrying the Kings for much of the second quarter (where he scored 15) and was a perfect 14-of-14 from the stripe, including some very clutch free throws late. Lyles was the third-leading scorer for Sacramento with 16, as his three-point shooting kept the team afloat from deep while everyone else (Monk aside) floundered.

On the other side, Curry finished with a hard-working 30 points, while Thompson had 21 points and five assists, and Draymond had his usual 11-assist, nine-rebound performance, but only had four points on the night. Wiggins and Jordan Poole also chipped in 17 each off of the bench, but were relative non-factors in the second half. For the Warriors, their road woes continued, although on this night it wasn’t the product of truly awful play, but they do have plenty to work on, particularly defensively where they just had no answers for Fox on the ball late. They tried all manner of options and none of them found success, and how they attack the Kings point guard figures to be a big key moving forward.

For Sacramento, the win lifts some serious pressure off of the team, as a number of the starters seemed to be feeling the weight of the moment in this one. Thankfully for them, Monk, Fox, and Lyles weren’t and embraced the spotlight, producing huge shots all night. Moving forward, they’ll hope to get guys like Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray going, and Sabonis will need to crack the code against Kevon Looney, who gave him fits in the post after the first quarter. Still, this will be a night to remember for the Kings and their fans, and now the focus can shift fully to trying to win the series with objective number one, win a home game, checked off the list.