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Payback time: Kings beat Warriors in play-in tournament to set up showdown with Pelicans

Jason Anderson, The Sacramento Bee on

Published in Basketball

The Kings wanted payback a year after the Golden State Warriors handed them a heartbreaking loss in Game 7 of an unforgettable first-round playoff series.

They shared that moment with their home crowd Tuesday evening in Sacramento, ending Golden State’s season with a resounding victory in the NBA play-in tournament.

Keegan Murray scored 32 points to lead the Kings to a 118-94 wiin over the Warriors in a play-in elimination game before a sellout crowd of 18,304 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

Kings fans chanted “SAC-RA-MENTO” and “Light the Beam” as Warriors fans scurried off to the exits when the lead swelled to 26 points in the final minutes.

“It doesn’t take away what they did to us last year at all,” Murray said. “That still stings to this day, but it kind of peels the Band-Aid off a little bit. They got us last year. We got them this year.”

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 in the other play-in game Tuesday to secure the No. 7 seed in the West. The Kings will go on the road to face the Pelicans on Friday.

 

The Pelicans dominated the season series, going 5-0 against the Kings. The winner of this one will advance to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

De’Aaron Fox had 24 points and six assists for the Kings. Harrison Barnes scored 17 points. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Keon Ellis, an undrafted player out of Alabama who was on a two-way contract until Feb. 10, finished with 15 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Stephen Curry scored 22 points to lead the Warriors. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody had 16 points apiece. Klay Thompson was held scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting.

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