Kings use big first half to glide past Warriors

Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis each posted a double-double for the Sacramento Kings, who rode a dominant first half to a 129-99 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night in San Francisco.

Playing without De'Aaron Fox, out with a bruised right glute, the Kings dominated their Northern California rival from the opening tip. Monk had 16 points and 10 assists in the first half, while Sabonis bundled 18 points with nine rebounds and six assists to help Sacramento build a 75-51 lead at the break.

Even with Stephen Curry finishing off a 26-point performance for Golden State, the Kings controlled the final two quarters to improve to 4-1 under interim coach Doug Christie, who took over after Mike Brown was fired on Dec. 27.

Sabonis finished the game with 22 points, a team-high 13 rebounds and seven assists for Sacramento, which faced the Warriors for the first time since winning a Western Conference play-in game in April.

Taking over the primary ball-handling chores in the absence of Fox, Monk paced the Kings with 26 points to complement his game-high 12 assists and four steals.

Kevin Huerter (16), Devin Carter (13), DeMar DeRozan (12), Keegan Murray (11) and Keon Ellis (11) also scored in double figures for Sacramento, which emptied its bench ahead of Monday's visit from Miami to conclude a back-to-back.

Sabonis hit 10 of his 13 shots and Monk made 9 of his 14 attempts as the Kings finished 51.7 percent from the floor.

Curry, who sat out Saturday's 121-113 home win over Memphis to rest sore knees, shot 8-of-12 and hit 4 of 8 attempts from 3-point range to go along with seven assists.

Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 18 points, Moses Moody scored 13 and Draymond Green had 10 for the Warriors, who learned before the game that forward Jonathan Kuminga will likely miss at least the next three weeks with a sprained right ankle.

Curry's teammates shot just 8-for-27 from beyond the arc, leaving Golden State at just 34.3 percent from distance for the game. Sacramento connected on 19 of its 43 3-point attempts (44.2 percent).

--Field Level Media