NBA Game Notes (April 17, 2023)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on April 17, 2023.

Kings Hold Off Warriors

The Sacramento Kings outscored the Golden State Warriors 41-29 in the second quarter to seize a lead they never relinquished, holding on for a 114-106 victory in Game 2 of their Western Conference First Round series. The Kings lead the series 2-0 as it shifts to San Francisco for Games 3 and 4.

De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis led the Kings in scoring with 24 points apiece. Fox also recorded game highs of nine assists and four steals, while Sabonis grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and shot 8-12 from the field.

Fox has scored a total of 62 points through his first two playoff games. No player in franchise history has scored more points in the first two playoff games of their career. The previous mark of 57 points was held by Oscar Robertson.

The Warriors’ Stephen Curry scored a game-high 28 points in the loss. He also dished out a team-high six assists, but was held to just 3-13 shooting from 3-point range. Including the regular season, Curry has made multiple 3-pointers in 59 straight games, the longest such streak in NBA history.

Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson scored 21 points, shooting 7-13 from the field with five 3-pointers made. It’s the 48th time Curry and Thompson have each scored at least 20 points in the same playoff game, the seventh-most such games in NBA history by a duo and the most such games by a backcourt tandem.

The game got off to a sloppy start, as the teams combined for 18 turnovers in the first quarter (nine apiece). That’s the most combined turnovers in one quarter of a playoff game since the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons totaled 18 turnovers in the fourth quarter of their matchup on April 27, 2002.

Neither team shot well, particularly from long range. The Kings missed a franchise-record 29 3-pointers (9-38, 23.7%), while the Warriors misfired on 27 of their 3-point attempts (13-40, 32.5%). The Warriors have missed 61 3-pointers in the series, tied for the third-highest such total in NBA history by a team through the first two games of a playoff series.