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The Sacramento Kings' first playoff game at Golden 1 Center was as loud as expected. Then, it got louder.
In their first playoff game since 2006, the Kings defeated the Golden State Warriors 126-123 in Game 1 to take an early advantage in the first-round series between the NBA's defending champions and high-flying upstarts.
De'Aaron Fox didn't need much time to acclimate to the playoffs in his first career appearance, going off for 38 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.
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The energy was palpable in the arena before tipoff. Not only were the Kings facing the NBA's most dominant team of the last decade, they were facing their closest rival. It was personal, and you could hear it from the nosebleeds.
"Our fans were off the charts. It was deafening in there. It was extremely loud," Kings head coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game. "So you gotta take your hat off to them cause they brought it for us tonight and you could feel the energy."
The first two and a half quarters went the way Sacramento fans probably feared. The Kings showed the kind of attack that got them the third seed in the Western Conference and the highest offensive efficiency in the NBA, but the Warriors didn't seem to be facing anything they hadn't seen before.
After a close first half, the Warriors took a double-digit lead in the third quarter and had their feared shooters operational. Stephen Curry finished with 30 points, while Klay Thompson had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Kings found life later in the third, erasing a 10-point lead in the final three minutes to enter the fourth quarter tied. The fourth became an all-out war, with Curry and Fox exchanging haymakers.
A pair of Malik Monk free throws finally put the Kings up 3 points with 2.9 seconds left, then a game-tying attempt from Curry just missed.
A few minutes later, the beam was lit.
The Kings' offensive surge was overwhelming even by their standards. They scored 69 points in their final 45 possessions of the game, a scorching 1.53 points per game. In addition to Fox, Monk, one of the team's big acquisitions last offseason, was a big part of that success, finishing with 32 points on only 13 shots and making all 14 of his free throw attempts.
Fox and Monk became just the second pair of teammates to score more than 30 points in their postseason debuts. The only other duo was Alonzo Mourning and Kendall Gill with the 1993 Hornets. Each scored 30 points.
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"That was my reason coming here to change the culture with my homie [Fox], and we knew we had a great chance. We just had to be together and we stayed together all year. We laugh, have fun. I think that's why we're just out there together," Monk said after the game.
Game 2 is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. PT in Sacramento. With all that has been made of the Warriors' struggles on the road, that game is suddenly looking very dangerous for the defending champs.
Yankees SP Domingo Germán stays in bid for perfect game after ump appears to say 'you have to wash your hands'
3 min readTwins vs Yankees Highlights
Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Higashioka launched home runs, while Domingo Germán struck out 11 to lead the Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Twins
New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán got off to a fantastic start during Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins. Germán's start was so impressive, in fact, that Twins manager Rocco Baldelli became suspicious about how Germán was able to dominate the Twins' starting lineup.
After tossing three perfect innings, Germán was examined by an umpire as he left the field. It started as a routine pitching check until umpire James Hoye started focusing on Germán's throwing hand. The umpire lingered on Germán's pitching hand for a bit and shared a few words with the pitcher.
When Germán came out for the fourth inning, he was checked again. The lengthy second check led to an extremely weird exchange between the umpiring crew and Germán.
Members of the umpiring crew and the Yankees gathered around Germán during the check. At one point, it appeared that Hoye told Germán, "You have to wash your hands." Despite that, Germán was allowed to remain in the contest. As he headed toward the mound, Baldelli rushed out to find out what happened. After not getting the answer he wanted, Baldelli was ejected from the contest.
Umpire James Hoye talks to Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) At some point in the ordeal, Hoye also appeared to tell Germán, "I told you to wipe it off."
Germán's spin rates mysteriously dropped shortly after he was told to wash his hands.
Whatever led to the multiple exams didn't shake Germán on the mound. He stayed perfect through the fourth and fifth innings. He lost the perfect game and the no-hitter in the sixth.
Although he gave up a few hits following the second exam, Germán kept the Twins off the scoreboard. He was removed from the contest in the seventh inning with a 4-0 lead. He gave up just three hits and struck out 11 over 6⅓ innings in the start. The Yankees went on to win 6-1.
Following the contest, Yankees manager Aaron Boone claimed Germán had rosin on his hand when he left the dugout. That didn't stop Twins social media from poking fun at Germán and the Yankees.
Hoye confirmed that he thought Germán had rosin on his hand. Hoye said he asked Germán to wash his hands to avoid future issues. When Germán came back out, Hoye said he could still feel some rosin on Germán's pinkie.
Baldelli explained that he did not accuse Germán of using an illegal substance on the mound. He said he argued the call because Germán was allowed to continue pitching after refusing to comply with Hoye's request after the third inning.
Baldelli lost that argument and was forced to watch the rest of the game elsewhere because of it.
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