The shorthanded Sacramento Kings sent out a collection of rookies and other young players to face Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
The Kings fought to the end in a game that featured 10 ties and 18 lead changes, but ultimately they came up short, falling 110-105 before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Kings coach Doug Christie was pleased with the way his team battled despite the absences of DeMar DeRozan (hamstring), Drew Eubanks (thumb), De’Andre Hunter (eye), Zach LaVine (finger), Keegan Murray (ankle), Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Russell Westbrook (toe).
“I’m so proud of the way they competed,” Christie said. “That’s a champion-level ballclub. They’ve been in a lot of different wars, and they made some shots at the end, but for the most part I really liked the competitiveness.”
De’Anthony Melton scored 21 points to lead the Warriors (36-42), who had lost four in a row and 16 of 23 dating back to the All-Star break. Brandin Podziemski scored 20 points and Curry came off the bench to score 17.
Killian Hayes had 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Kings (21-58), who will face the Warriors again on Friday in Sacramento before flying north to play the Portland Trail Blazers in Sunday’s season finale.
Maxime Raynaud had 17 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento. Doug McDermott scored 16 points, Precious Achiuwa scored 13, Nique Clifford had 12 and Daeqwon Plowden added 11.
Curry came off the bench again in his second outing since returning from a lengthy injury absence. The 12-time All-Star and two-time MVP missed 27 games due to right patellofemoral pain syndrome. He had not played since Jan. 30 before returning to score 29 points in 26 minutes in Sunday’s 117-116 loss to the Houston Rockets.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained that bringing Curry off the bench helps him manage Curry’s minutes in a way that allows him to be on the floor to close out each quarter.
Christie started Plowden in place of DeRozan, who was ruled out due to right hamstring soreness 48 hours after passing Oscar Robertson for 16th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Plowden, a two-way player who spent much of the season in the G League, continued to impress in his fifth career start, scoring in double figures for the 14th time in his past 15 games.
Plowden made two 3-pointers in the opening period to help the Kings outscore the Warriors 26-25 in the first quarter. The Warriors took control after Curry converted two four-point plays as part of a 22-7 run in the second quarter.
Golden State led 66-53 at the halftime break. The Warriors maintained a double-digit lead for most of the third period, but the Kings came back to cut the deficit to four after closing the quarter with a 9-0 run. Sacramento outscored Golden State 28-19 in the third with a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Kings tied the game on a basket by Dylan Cardwell and took the lead on a 3-pointer by McDermott early in the fourth quarter. Sacramento led by three following another 3-pointer by McDermott with 2:53 remaining, but the Warriors outscored the Kings 9-1 over the final 2:38 to escape with the win.
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Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.