Steph Curry, Warriors pull out 123-116 win over Kings in Game 5 to take 3-2 lead in first round; takeaways

Golden State has won three straight games in the series

After falling into a 0-2 hole to start the series, the Golden State Warriors have now won three straight games over the Sacramento Kings in their first round matchup to take a 3-2 lead. 

Despite struggling on the road all season, the Warriors were able to pull out a 122-114 win at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Golden State is now just one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals, and they'll look to close out the series in Game 6 in front of their home fans on Friday night. 

The Warriors had four players -- Steph Curry (31), Klay Thompson (25), Draymond Green (21) and Andrew Wiggins (20) -- score over twenty points, and that balanced production proved to be too much for Sacramento to overcome. 

De'Aaron Fox led the way for the Kings with 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, while Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis both added 21 points apiece. After dropping three straight, the Kings need to quickly regroup and find a way to bounce back if they want their best season in recent memory to extend beyond this week. 

The pressure in the series is now squarely on Sacramento, as the Warriors have two opportunities to get one win. As a young team with little playoff experience, it will be extremely interesting to see how they respond after being pushed to the brink of elimination. 

Before moving on to Game 6, though, here's a look at three key takeaways from Golden State's Game 5 win. 

1. Draymond was offensive 

Draymond Green didn't score 20 points in a game once this season. Or last season. Or the season before that. Prior to Game 5, the last time Green scored over 20 points in a game was on Christmas Day in 2019. This was also the first time in Green's career that he scored over 20 points while coming off of the bench. 

Green can sometimes be too passive, but he came out aggressive and looking to score in this one as he took four shots and scored six points in the first quarter. He was extremely efficient too, as he converted on eight of his ten attempts from the field over the course of the contest.

The Warriors clearly don't always need him to score as much as he did on Wednesday night, but it's a nice boost when he does, especially when he's also adding seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Golden State has a lot of threats on the offensive end, and when Green makes himself another one, they become even more difficult to defeat.

2. Kevon Looney doing the dirty work 

Looney probably isn't going to get most of the press from this game, but the Warriors don't win it without his contributions. He didn't score much -- just four points -- but he did just about everything else. In his 34 minutes of action he corralled 22 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. He also added seven assists and a block. 

With his production in the game, Looney became just the third player in NBA history to post 20-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and under five points in a playoff game, per StatMuse. The other two? Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. 

This isn't the first time that Looney grabbed exactly 22 rebounds in a playoff game. He did the game thing in Game 6 of the conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies last season. 

All title teams need guys who are willing to do the dirty work, or the "unsung heroes" if you will. Looney continues to be just that for this Warriors team.

3. What happened to Sacramento's shooting?

The Kings made eight three-pointers in the first quarter of this contest. Fox had three of them, and Keegan Murray and Davion Mitchell each added two. At that point it looked like the Kings were going to be raining down triples all night. But then something shifted and their collective shooting fell off of a cliff. After making eight in the first 12 minutes, Sacramento made just two shots from long distance over the remaining 36. They shot 8 of 12 from deep in the first, but finished just 10 of 35, which equates to 28 percent. The Warriors only made 11 triples as a team, so it's not like Sacramento got outscored badly from beyond the arc, but if they were able to continue to convert their attempts at a decent clip, they could have potentially altered the outcome. 

[Apr 27, 2023 at 12:43 am ET · Michael Kaskey-Blomain]

No beams will be lit tonight. 123-116 is the final score. Three straight wins for the Warriors. Game 6 is on Friday night. 

[Apr 27, 2023 at 12:39 am ET · Michael Kaskey-Blomain]

This one is about over. Warriors are going to win their third straight, and they're going to take a 3-0 lead in the series. 

[Apr 27, 2023 at 12:38 am ET · Michael Kaskey-Blomain]

The Kings have six players in double figures in this game. Impressive distribution and a variety of contributors. 

[Apr 27, 2023 at 12:33 am ET · Michael Kaskey-Blomain]

21 off the bench for Draymond. First time he has over 20 in a game since Christmas of 2019, per the broadcast.