Western Conference Recaps, April 17: De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis Led Sacramento Kings Past Golden State

For the first time since 2004, the Sacramento Kings have taken a 2-0 lead in the first round.

De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points to lead them to a 114-106 victory against the Golden State Warriors. With this win, they became the first team to take a 2-0 series lead against the Warriors while Stephen Curry was on the team.

Domantas Sabonis also had 24 points but might have to miss some time after getting stomped on his ribs by Draymond Green.

“It was a flagrant-2 for sure,” said Kings coach Mike Brown, the NBA's Coach of the Year. "It’ll be interesting to see with what the NBA does after they review it.”

Green, who finished with eight points, defended his position.

“My leg got grabbed,” he said. “Second time in two nights. Referees just watch it. I've got to land my foot somewhere. I’m not the most flexible person, so it’s not stretching that far. … I can only step so far.”

The Kings said the play was a rallying point.

"That brought us together," Sacramento point guard De'Aaron Fox said. "We huddled up and were like, 'We have to win this game,' especially because everybody thought [Green] would be ejected. When that usually happens, that team comes together and goes on a run. We were able to negate that."

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 28 points while Klay Thompson had 21. The defending champions are two losses from a first-round exit. The Kings are in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Game 3 is Thursday at Golden State.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.

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