Lee Heidhues 4.23.2023
Here’s today’s “All’s well that ends well” story for the Golden State Warriors.
With 41 seconds remaining, the Warriors up by five points, in possession of the ball against the Sacramento Kings.
Superstar Steph Curry made a mistake which would have haunted him forever had his team lost.
Curry’s miscue resulted in a technical foul and a free throw which the Kings made. The Kings were then awarded the ball and promptly sank a three point shot to close the gap to one point.
The Warriors failed to score on their next possession. Sacramento got the ball with 10 seconds remaining. All Warrior fans exhaled when former Warrior Harrison Barnes missed a three point shot as the final buzzer sounded.
Warriors win 126-125 and tie the series at 2-2. The next game is in Sacramento on Wednesday night.
Stand up guy. Warriors coach Steve Kerr took responsibility for Steph Curry’s gaffe.
Excerpted from SF Gate 4.24.2023
The Golden State Warriors committed a mental error.
Steph Curry was bringing the basketball up the floor when the Kings trapped him behind halfcourt. With 42 seconds left in the game, Curry let his instincts take over and called a timeout to prevent the turnover in the backcourt.
The problem was that the Warriors had no timeouts remaining. This was because Steve Kerr called for a challenge on an illegal screen foul that came against Kevon Looney a couple of possessions earlier. Kerr, who understood this fact, nearly fell to his knees in disbelief at what his star player had just done.
Not only did the Kings get a technical foul free throw, but they also got possession immediately afterward. Sacramento made good on the opportunity, with De’Aaron Fox scoring a 3-point basket to turn what was a 126-121 deficit to a 126-125 deficit.
Though the Kings got the final possession of the game, the attempted game-winner from forward Harrison Barnes clanked off the back of the rim as time expired, allowing Golden State to tie the series at 2-2 with a 126-125 win.
https://www.sfgate.com/warriors/article/warriors-pull-chris-weber-called-late-timeout-17914045.php
Top photo: Warriors fans show varying senses of emotion as Harrison Barnes launches his final second three pointer for the Kings. It missed. Time to exhale – photo. San Francisco Chronicle
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