The Splash Brothers and the upstart Kings laid the foundation for a historic shooting performance in the pre-match warmup sessions. By the time the buzzer was signaling an end to the contest, both sides had accounted for 41 converted three-point shots, among them, a 5-of-7 conversion rate from Kings forward Justin Jackson, the unlikeliest of heroes on the big stage.
It didn't seem to matter that Golden State had stolen the W with a 4-point margin, the contest ending on 127-123 scoreline. The much-improved Sacramento Kings are noted for their sharpshooting on the wings, even though De'Aaron Fox, the team's principal ball-handler went 0-3 from behind the arc on 3-12 shooting overall. But, therein lies the beauty of Basketball as a team sport. When one individual's shooting stroke goes cold, the ball gets imparted to a teammate in better sorts.
And the NBA record of 41 three-pointers didn't even equate to a lopsided performance from one team. The Warriors accounted for 21 of those rainbows at a conversion rate of 21-for-47, while the Kings posted 20 of their own, at 20-for-36. "It's right there for you to see, right?" Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of the shooting prowess demonstrated by both teams. "Everybody's shooting 3s. That was just an incredible offensive display," he remarked before doting on the negative aspects of the game, namely the costly turnovers.
So, in a sense, the Kings and Warriors should only be rewarded for their 3-Point shooting. Rest assured, footage from this matchup won't be viewed in the Smithsonian by the students of the game. Nevertheless, the Kings still deserves their kudos for keeping it close 'til the very end.
