SACRAMENTO _ The Warriors followed up their Friday night fourth quarter meltdown against Memphis with a similarly sluggish first half against the Kings on Sunday.
The team that has responded so well to regular season losses the past two years _ winning all 15 of their next games _ didn't initially respond in Sacramento. But a full-length blitz wasn't needed. Not against this Kings team. Twelve minutes of domination was enough.
And that's what the Warriors provided in the third quarter, spurting past the Kings 117-106 thanks primarily to that 39-22 mauling in the third.
There was good energy in the building on Sunday night. It was the Warriors' first game in Sacramento's new downtown arena.
But the Warriors came out a step behind. On the game's first possession, DeMarcus Cousins spun baseline on Zaza Pachulia for an easy dunk. No help came. A few Warrior defenders looked around in confusion. Steve Kerr called timeout 18 seconds into the game, a strange occurrence.
The timeout didn't immediately help. Golden State had five sloppy first quarter turnovers _ including two bundled fastbreaks by Klay Thompson _ while their defense was shredded by Rudy Gay for 15 first quarter points.
The Kings led 33-24 at the end of one and 58-51 at halftime. Heading into the break, Golden State was 3-of-14 from 3, had 10 turnovers and had allowed a sub-.500 Sacramento team to shoot better than 52 percent, despite DeMarcus Cousins, their lone star, only playing 11 first half minutes because of foul trouble.
But the Warriors blasted out of halftime reinvigorated. Zaza Pachulia had four quick points, helping bump him to double-digits for a fourth consecutive game. He'd only done it twice total in the season's first few months.
With 8:02 left in the third, Kevin Durant hit a 3 to tie the game at 65-65. Then on the next possession, Durant swooped in to swat a Gay layup, Steph Curry pushed it into the open court and drained a transition 3. It gave the Warriors a 17-0 edge in fastbreak points and a 68-65 lead, their first since early in the first quarter.
The rout was soon on. Pachulia ripped Cousins as he held the ball on the next possession and, as Cousins pleaded for a foul call, Pachulia beat him upcourt for a transition layup.
Cousins drove the lane for a drive soon after. As he did, Durant looked as if he was preparing to take a charge. Cousins seemed to sense it and pulled up short of Durant for a floater. But Durant read the move, reversed out of take a charge mode and swatted Cousins shot away.
It bounced to Pachulia, who threw an over-the-head outlet to Curry, who raced into the lane and finished an acrobatic lefty layup over two defenders. The crowd, filled with plenty of Warriors fans, ooh'd and ahh'd.
The Warriors, down seven at half, were up 10 at the end of the third quarter. Then the dreaded fourth arrived. But the Warriors remained more locked in than Friday night, playing the Kings even and cruising to an 11-point win.
