Returning to stun Warriors and advance in the tournament.

SANTA ANA — Since the end of the previous season, the Kings have been waiting for their chance to face down their mean, pestering, overbearing big brothers from Northern California, the Warriors.

Malik Monk squared up Andrew Wiggins with ten seconds remaining on Tuesday night, trying to find a way around him. The Kings won 124–123 when Monk got himself just inside the free throw line, off-balance, and shoved the ball up with one hand before banking it in. Their victory guaranteed them a spot in the NBA in-season tournament quarterfinals. However, the Kings were more concerned with finally defeating the team that had defeated them so frequently in the past than with that.

“We wish to triumph. Undoubtedly, De’Aaron Fox stated, “Our supporters want us to defeat Golden State.” “A game this close, coming back from down 24, you want to win regardless of if it’s a tournament game or not.”

It was evident halfway through the first quarter that the Warriors needed to win by 12 points or more in order to advance to the quarterfinals, as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. If the Kings win or the game is lost by 11 points or less, Sacramento would be done for.

The Warriors launched their first offensive surge shortly after Minnesota’s victory, extending their lead to 24 points halfway through the second quarter.

Despite allowing the Kings to go on runs, Golden State was able to contain them. The Kings cut their deficit from 24 to 17 with a 7-0 run to end the first half. In the final moments of the third quarter, they managed to surpass the 12-point mark.

The Kings then started to press in the fourth quarter.

Fox declared, “This league is a game of runs.” “You just try to win as many segments as you can to win the game.”

Two moments proved to be game-changers for the Kings in the fourth quarter. There were two: one for the coaching staff and one for the players.

That was when Monk told the coaches to just let the game play out and to stop complaining to the officials.

For the players, Warriors forward Draymond Green, who was just out of a five-game suspension, was called for a technical foul three minutes into the fourth quarter for arguing with the officials—a call he appeared to be pursuing.

Green purposefully fouled on the next play, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr took him out of the game right away to prevent things from getting out of hand.

“That definitely was the momentum we needed with them slipping up right there,” Monk stated. “[Coach Mike Brown] had been encouraging us to stick with it the entire game. that something would undoubtedly occur.”

After the first bucket, the Kings went on an 11-3 run to take the lead. It was a dog fight from there, the kind that happens so frequently between siblings.

Sacramento stepped up its defense, snatching the ball away from the 29-point scorer Stephen Curry and forcing Wiggins and Klay Thompson, who finished with 29 and 20 points respectively, to settle down.

After receiving their beloved Green back from suspension, the Warriors players appeared overwhelmed at having to play without him once more.

Moses Moody was the only one who seemed calm. Of the Warriors’ first 12 points in the fourth quarter, 11 came from Moody. But he was taken out of the game too late. Kerr explained that it was because Golden State needed Wiggins’ defense and Thompson’s seasoned offensive, particularly on Fox.

Fox finished the game with 29 points on 9 of 20 shooting, nine rebounds, seven assists, and two steals after scoring just nine points in the first half.

Fox claimed that although the Warriors didn’t exactly upend him defensively in the second half, he was able to get going because of his concentration on attacking the rim. In the game, he made just two 3-pointers.

“It’s going to be to tough to swallow just because we should have won that game,” Curry said. “We were really motivated, especially considering the length of time we’ve been on, and we played well enough to win for 40 minutes. When you cross the finish line, you come up short. It’s frustrating and a hard pill to swallow. Everyone needs to take a self-portrait in the mirror.”

With 37 seconds remaining, after Monk made a 25-foot step-back to pull the Kings within one, Green mishandled a pass meant for Thompson.

Brown’s initial goal was to test his team’s ability to quickly identify a potential winning opportunity.

It appeared to work in our advantage the more chaotic it got,” Brown remarked. “Our guys were figuring out how to react. It was giving them energy despite the mayhem.”

But in the end, Brown called a timeout. However, he did not draft the winning play for any specific player. Rather, his message was to take the shot with whoever looked the best. It turned out to be Monk.

Monk said he should have called the game, but he didn’t. After enduring innumerable “night night” moments at the hands of Curry and the Warriors, the Kings were eager to relish this victory because it meant they had finally overcome the mental obstacle of defeating an opponent.

However, the Kings are well aware that this victory, rewarding though it may be, only represents a small portion of their overall objectives for the remainder of the regular season, the postseason, and the in-season tournament.