Category: Basketball

What we learned as Steph makes history in Warriors' win vs. Kings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors on Thursday night at Chase Center began with back-to-back booms by Draymond Green, who hit threes from the right corner on Golden State’s first two possessions, but all eyes were on Steph Curry’s countdown to 4,000 career 3-pointers. 

History was made during the third quarter, and the Warriors held off the Kings for a 130-104 win to continue their successful homestand. 

A moment we'll never forget

4⃣,0⃣0⃣0⃣ pic.twitter.com/XdpEooLnIm

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 14, 2025

Curry played 30 minutes and was held to 11 points on the Kings’ defense that looked to make anybody else beat them. 

The Warriors’ leading scorer, however, was a surprise. Green scored a season-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and was 4 of 7 on threes. He also added five rebounds and four assists.

Starting things off with a BOOM 💥

pic.twitter.com/lRk5raaTlk

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 14, 2025

The anticipation of Curry’s latest historic shot wasn’t the only storyline everyone was waiting to see unfold. Jonathan Kuminga returned from an ankle injury that had sidelined him since Jan. 4 and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. Kuminga was spry and active, scoring 18 points off the bench in 20 minutes, going 7 of 10 from the field and was a plus-8.

This was a group project aced by many. The Warriors had eight players score in double figures, from the starting lineup and four off the bench.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ season-best sixth win in a row.

4K Curry

Before Curry even took one three, the Warriors already had shot four and made half of them. But the first time Curry let it fly, he cashed in from the left wing. Curry then missed his first chance at making his 4,000th career three, clanking from the top of the arc. 

The next three Curry took again was unsuccessful, putting him one three away from his major milestone through the first half.

A little under four minutes into the third quarter, Curry hit 4K on his fourth attempt of the game. Curry used a pump fake to get Trey Lyles to fly past him, dribbled once to his left and again defied basketball history for the umpteenth time. 

Steph is the first player in NBA history with 4,000 3-pointers 🙌

pic.twitter.com/9VHHDnsunJ

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 14, 2025

During the next timeout, the Warriors played a special tribute video that began with former Warrior Andris Biedrins, who assisted Curry on his first career made 3-pointer as a Warrior on Oct. 30, 2009, his second game in the NBA. Curry made his 1,000th three in his sixth season. He made it to 2,000 early in his ninth season, 3,000 in his 13th season and now 4,000 in his 16th season.

Now, imagine if Curry played more than 26 games in his third season, and wasn’t held to five games in the pandemic-riddled 2019-20 NBA season. The record books will never be the same.

Kuminga’s Impressive Return

The wait finally ended at the 7:23 mark of the first quarter. Kuminga, after missing the Warriors’ previous 31 games, was back on the court following a Kings timeout. He replaced Jimmy Butler, joining Curry, Green, Moses Moody and Quinten Post. 

His first shot attempt was a tough finish at the rim on Kings center Jonas Valančiūnas that didn’t fall through. Still, the Warriors loved Kuminga’s intent and decision. He also pushed the ball in transition and assisted Curry on his first three of the night. Then with a little more than three minutes left in the first quarter, Kuminga scored his first points in 68 days. 

Kuminga went coast to coast, hesitated for a second with his left and then blew by Malik Monk for a strong left-handed layup.

Jonathan Kuminga’s first two points after missing more than 2 months was exactly what the Warriors want to see out of him

Impressive, lively first stint pic.twitter.com/NrQq7uxyv9

— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) March 14, 2025

That’s exactly what the Warriors want to see out of Kuminga. His first stint was lively, lasting five minutes in which he was a plus-4. Kuminga in the first half played nine minutes and scored six points on 2-of-3 shooting, and also had three rebounds and one assist.

He played another 11 minutes in the second half, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Aside from Curry’s three, the best moment of the night was Kuminga throwing down multiple dunks in the fourth quarter, including an alley-oop from Green.

Welcome back, JK 😤 pic.twitter.com/orHlyskYM7

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 14, 2025

Kings’ 4-On-4 Strategy

If Keegan Murray was in the game when Curry was on the court, he face guarded Curry everywhere he went. The same goes for Kings guard Keon Ellis. The game turned to 4-on-4 to prevent Curry from making more history. 

Turns out that Curry guy is a pretty decent decoy. 

The Warriors in the first quarter shot 13 threes, with only two coming from Curry. They went 7 of 13 in that span. Going into halftime, the Warriors were shooting 57.1 percent beyond the arc, going 12 of 21, and Curry only was responsible for one made three. 

Before Curry made his 4,000th career 3-pointer, the Warriors as a team were 14 of 23, amounting to 60.1 percent. Green had made four threes. Post and Gary Payton II had made three, and Moody, Buddy Hield and Gui Santos each had made one. 

Kings interim coach Doug Christie’s strategy worked for stretches, taking Curry out of the game as a scorer. More often than not, however, the Warriors as a whole made him pay for it. They made 22 of their 39 3-point attempts while the Kings finished 14 of 37, giving Golden State a 24-point advantage from long distance.

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Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau asked to meet with Mikal Bridges before Wednesday's overtime win against the Trail Blazers, looking to clear the air over the small forward's comments regarding starters' minutes, sources familiar with the situation told SNY's Ian Begley.

Sources described the meeting as "productive."

Bridges is averaging a career-high 37.8 minutes per night in his first season since being acquired from the Nets.

He is one of three Knicks who currently sit in the top-10 in the league in total minutes on the year with Jalen Brunson (2,162; 10th) and Josh Hart (2,307; 2nd) joining him.

The 28-year-old argued that giving the bench unit more playing time could help keep them fresh.

“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” he told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. "We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there."

The head coach countered that a conversation with Bridges did not take place and defended his minutes distribution.

“We never had a conversation about it,” Thibodeau said. “The facts are the facts. When you look at our team, and the way it works, Jalen plays 35 minutes, and I think he’s 20th or 21st in average minutes played. [Karl-Anthony Towns], who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He’s like 25th in the league in average minutes."

MSG Network's Mike Breen first noted on Wednesday night's broadcast that the two had talked before the game, and cameras caught the two chatting during the matchup.