How Stephen Curry and the Warriors made history to silence the Kings in Game 7

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — You can’t break up the Warriors because the Warriors aren’t letting it happen. You can’t break up the Warriors because it shouldn’t happen until Stephen Curry’s last swish and Draymond Green’s last swipe, shouldn’t be contemplated until Steve Kerr has walked away, Kevon Looney is tired of rebounding and Klay Thompson doesn’t want to shoot anymore.

So maybe it’ll never happen. You can’t break up the Warriors because of everything we saw and felt in the Warriors’ soaring 120-100 Game 7 victory over the Kings in Golden 1 Center on Sunday. Because no other team has ever silenced hostile crowds like this and pushed itself to play like this in a procession of epic moments like this. You can’t break up the Warriors if Curry wants this to go on forever — and he put up 50 points, the most ever scored in a Game 7, to make sure this went on at least another round.

You can’t break up the Warriors, even though that’s been the possibility looming over this entire season, which could’ve ended Sunday.

But it didn’t end. You can’t break up the Warriors because it won’t ever be like this again once it’s over. Draymond can become a free agent this summer. So can Bob Myers. The Warriors’ massive luxury-tax bill is coming due hard. And so what? You can’t purposely end this anytime sooner than it absolutely has to. You can’t do it the way the Michael Jordan Bulls all broke up after the famous “Last Dance” 1997-98 season.

And I think Game 7 is one more reason owner Joe Lacob, Draymond and Myers can’t and won’t let themselves be the ones to call this all off.

Read more here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kings guard De’Aaron Fox called playing the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs a “blessing and a curse.”

There’s a blessing in learning from playing a team with a championship pedigree. The curse is that team doing the little things to win games, reminding you how they became champions.

Fox took all of that in as he reflected on the Kings losing to the Warriors, 120-100, in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.

The matchup was an education in what the Kings need to return to the playoffs and advance. The first-time All-Star gleaned plenty.

“I know there’s another level I have to get to as a professional and our team has to get as well,” said Fox, who finished with 16 points and was 5-of-19 shooting from the field. “I’m grateful for this experience. The playoffs are everything that I expected it to be.”

Read more here.

There was 40 points and nine assists in Game 3 in New Orleans in 2015, punctuated by a corner 3 that forced overtime. Then there was 38 in a pivotal Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals. There was 40 off the bench in Portland in 2016, including a record 17 in overtime. That was followed by a big Game 7 against Oklahoma City in 2016, when he put up 36 on Kevin Durant’s Thunder to complete a comeback from a 3-1 hole in the series. There was 33 in the second half in Game 7 in Houston in 2019. There was the entire 2019 Western Conference Finals in a sweep of Portland. Then of course, Game 4 in Boston last year in the finals: 43 points and 10 rebounds to snatch the series from the Celtics.

At 35 years old, Stephen Curry just added another gem to a ridiculous list of monster games. He set an NBA record with 50 points in a Game 7 to go with eight rebounds, six assists and just one turnover. He did it on the road, in 38 minutes of action. It saved the season, pushing the Warriors into the second round. It may have saved the dynasty, proving the championship core is still incredibly formidable. The upstart Kings, the No. 3 seed, pushed Curry and the Warriors like they haven’t been pushed before. In the end, Curry was too much.

(Photo: Getty Images)

When it comes to the stakes in this series, all of the pressure was on the Warriors team that is trying to extend its dynasty. Win or lose, the Kings had already proven that they are an up-and-coming program that had a successful season regardless of the Game 7 outcome. But that doesn’t mean this loss won’t hurt pretty badly when they look back on it — especially because the Warriors gave them so many chances to get the job done.

All of those missed free throws by the Warriors (19 in all on 30 attempts), and all those missed Klay Thompson shots (he was 4-of-19 from the field), and the Kings still failed to seize the moment. Their failed effort was a collective one, but it didn’t help that De’Aaron Fox (16 points) had his worst game of the series by far. What’s more, Kevin Huerter (seven points) continued to struggle. As was the case for so much of this series, the Kings offense that was historic during the regular season wasn’t nearly as explosive as advertised.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Warriors outscored Kings 811-796 in this series.

First 800-point series by a team since 2003 Mavericks (vs Kings). Most points in a playoff series by a team since 1987 semis, when Celtics beat Bucks 850-848.

There was 40 points and 9 assists in Game 3 in New Orleans in 2015, punctuated by a corner 3 that forced overtime. Then there was 38 in a pivotal Game 5 of the 2015 Finals. There was 40 off the bench in Portland in 2016, including a record 17 in overtime.

That was followed by a big Game 7 against Oklahoma City in 2016, when he put up 36 on Kevin Durant’s Thunder to complete a comeback from a 3-1 hole in the series. There was 33 in the second half in Game 7 in Houston in 2019. There was the entire 2019 Western Conference Finals in a sweep of Portland. Then of course, Game 4 in Boston last year on The Finals: 43 points and 10 rebounds to snatch the series from the Celtics.

At 35 years old, Curry just added another gem to a ridiculous list of monster games. He set an NBA record with 50 points in a Game 7 to go with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and just 1 turnover. He did it on the road, the 38 minutes of action. It saved the season, pushing the Warriors into the second round. It may have saved the dynasty, proving the championship core is still incredibly formidable. The upstart Kings, the No. 3 seed, pushed Curry and the Warriors like they haven’t been pushed before. In the end, Curry was too much.

Steve Kerr: “I think (Kevon) Looney is one of the best centers in the league.”

None of Stephen Curry's 50 points (or any points today from the Warriors, for that matter) came on the fast break.

Beat the Kings in the half court all game, but especially after halftime.

We're about to have 4 lower seeds win in the quarterfinals (5 Knicks, 6 Warriors, 7 Lakers, 8 Heat).

That's never happened since NBA added 7-8 seeds in 1984, either in best-of-5 era (1984 to 2002) or best-of-7 era (2003 to 2023).

As if Stephen Curry hadn't already plunged the dagger into the Kings' hearts, he gets his 50th point by Curly Nealing his way through the Kings' defense for a layup. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Kings have managed just four points thus far through the fourth quarter. They've scored just 27 points this half.

Steph Curry is up to 43 points now after ANOTHER layup and one of his patented stepback off-balanced 3s. He's the 10th player in NBA history to score 40 on the road in a Game 7. And he has completely broken a Kings team that seemed unbreakable.

The Kings, like so many teams before them over the last decade, have no answer for Stephen Curry when it counts most. Thirty-eight now for Steph, including two more layups in the fourth quarter. Legendary performance by a legend.

Kevon Looney becomes the first player since Dwight Howard in 2008 (first round) with three 20-plus rebound games in the same series, per Elias.