Stephen Curry admitted that he committed a major error in his blunderous late timeout call that almost costed the Golden State Warriors’ chances to tie their first-round series against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.
Curry was trapped by both Harrison Barnes and Davion Mitchell at the half-court with around 40 seconds left. This prompted him to call for a timeout, which turned out to be a near-disastrous one for the Dubs given that they already burned their final one upon the failed challenge by Steve Kerr approaching the last two minutes of the regulation.
“Thankfully we came away with the win, but a good learning lesson on how important all those details are,” said Curry, per C.J. Holmes of The San Francisco Chronicle. “We know it, but knowing timeouts, knowing the situation, it was just an unfortunate sequence right there.”
The call made by the superstar guard guaranteed the Kings for a bonus trip to the line as he was assessed with a Technical Foul. This also opened up an important pathway for Sacramento to nearly deliver a complete comeback effort.
Following the successful technical foul shot, De’Aaron Fox sprinted and drained a quick trey to make it a one-point game with 28.1 seconds left. On the opposite end, Curry missed a potential finishing blow and the Kings secured the board for the last possession.
On the final play, Golden State enforced Draymond Green to defend the reigning Clutch Player of the Year in Fox. The star point man found himself trapped between Green and in the help defense of Curry, making him pass the rock for Harrison Barnes for a game-winner.
Barnes bricked the three, buzzer sounded, and the Dubs prevailed – setting up a three-game series with Sacramento as Game 5 is scheduled on Wednesday.
“100 percent my fault,” coach Steve Kerr said of Curry’s timeout. “I knew we didn’t have any timeouts left. We took the challenge, and when the challenge was unsuccessful, as we were exiting the huddle, that’s on me. I’ve got to remind the guys we’re out of timeouts.
“I didn’t say that, and so Steph wasn’t aware. That’s on me for not making that clear.”
Curry finished the match with a team-high 32 points, as the Warriors managed to survive the early 0-2 series disadvantage posted by the Kings at the start of the series.
