Marcus Thornton and Samuel Dalembert had career scoring nights with 42 and 27 points and the Kings beat the Golden State Warriors 129-119 Monday night in what might have been the final meeting ever in Sacramento between the Northern California rivals.
DeMarcus Cousins added 15 as the Kings had their second-highest scoring game of the season and shot 57 percent to win for just the second time in their past nine home games.
Al Thornton scored 23 points and Stephen Curry added 19 to lead the Warriors, who were never in this game a night after beating Minnesota 100-77 in their most lopsided win of the season.
With the Kings contemplating a move to Anaheim after the season, this could have been the final meeting ever between the teams in Sacramento. The teams will still meet once more in Oakland this season on April 10.
In the 26 seasons that the two franchises have been divided by fewer than 100 miles, they have never both made the playoffs at the same time. While the proximity has not led to meaningful games between the teams, there has been passion between the fan bases. A sizable contingent of Warriors fans made the drive on Interstate 80 for the game and made their presence felt with their cheers.
The teams even got into it late in the first half when each team was called for two technical fouls after a run-in between Al Thornton and Dalembert.
“Regardless of the record between these two teams, there’s always a fantastic show,” Warriors coach Keith Smart said before the game.
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It was the Kings that put on the show this night, getting huge offensive nights from Thornton and Dalembert against the defensively challenged Warriors. Sacramento made 22 of 28 shots in the paint in the first half and reached the 100-point mark with just over 2 minutes left in the third quarter on a layup by Dalembert. The Kings led 107-84 after three quarters.
Thornton topped his previous career high of 37 with a 3-pointer early in the fourth that gave him 38 points and the Kings a 110-92 lead. While that advantage might have seemed safe, Sacramento had blown big fourth-quarter leads and lost in overtime to Golden State in the first two meetings this season.
