Russell Westbrook notched his record-extending 204th career triple-double to lead the Sacramento Kings to a 121-116 win over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
Westbrook racked up 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for the Kings, who trailed by 13 points in the first half before finishing strongly despite being without Zach LaVine (lower back soreness) and Domantas Sabonis (left ribcage contusion).
DeMar DeRozan added 25 points and Malik Monk had 21 off the bench in the win. Dennis Schroder registered 13 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
Rookie Will Richard posted 30 points in his first career start for the short-handed Warriors, who were without their three most experienced players — Stephen Curry (illness), Draymond Green (rib contusion) and Jimmy Butler (lower back strain).
Moses Moody contributed 28 points and Jonathan Kuminga scored 24.
Schroder hit three threes in an 11-0 fourth-quarter spree which put Sacramento up 115-104 before Golden State responded with a 10-2 burst to close the gap to 117-114 inside the last minute.
Kuminga missed a mid-range jumper, then Schroder knocked down two foul shots with 14.8 seconds remaining for 119-114 Kings lead.
Westbrook then forced Brandin Podziemski into a turnover before DeRozan sealed it from the stripe.
Richard poured in 12 points in the opening quarter — his previous career best was seven — while Kuminga added 11 as the Warriors held sway 32-25 at the first break.
An 8-0 burst early in the second stretched the visitors’ buffer to 40-27 before the Kings went about chipping into the deficit.
Sacramento scored nine points off turnovers for the quarter, piloted by Westbrook, Monk and Drew Eubanks, to trim Golden State’s lead to 62-57 at halftime.
The Kings edged in front with 9:03 remaining in the third — their first lead since the opening stages — and pulled clear at 92-85 with a quarter to play.
The Warriors committed seven turnovers in the third and conceded 11 fouls, and Sacramento took advantage, going 14 of 18 from the foul line to hold the upper hand.
