Remember Kings and Warriors last year? The beam, the stomp, Steph’s 50 points? Here we go again

Here come the Warriors again.

You know this bunch. The guys from the Bay, Golden State, first rooted in Oakland and now in San Francisco. Winners of multiple NBA championships. The swagger, the bling, the works.

That crew eliminated the Sacramento Kings in the playoffs a year ago in a seven-game series, and the Warriors return to Golden 1 Center on Tuesday night for an encore in a play-in, must-have game.

Last year, the Kings ended a 16-year playoff drought with a first-round series. This year, It’s win or pack for summer.

The series featured Warriors coach Steve Kerr matching wits with old pal Mike Brown, the Kings coach.

Then, we had Draymond Green’s scowl and the Stomp; Kevon Looney’s relentless efforts on the boards; and Stephen Curry’s ball-handling wizardry and 50-point outburst in Game 7 at Golden 1 Center to end the Kings season. Let’s review where we were then:

Kings-Warriors flashback

Game 1: De’Aaron Fox put the exclamation point on a 126-123 home victory in front of a raucous crowd, a long time coming for the long-suffering Kings, by pressing the button to light the ceremonial “Light the Beam” purple ray into the sky. It was the Kings’ first playoff victory since the end of the Rick Adelman coaching run in 2006.

A sixth-year guard, Fox scored 38 points, tying him for the second-highest playoff debut in NBA history in torching the defending NBA champions, 29 coming in the second half. Only Luka Doncic scored more in a playoff debut, doing so with Dallas in 2020.

“Sacramento showed out tonight,” Fox said afterward. “Doing this for the fans, just knowing the way that they support this team through thick and thin — really thin. It’s just a testament to the way they are.”

Malik Monk made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left, and Curry missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Monk scored 32 off the bench and Domantas Sabonis went for 12 points and 16 rebounds. Curry had 30 points.

Game 2: The Kings beat the Warriors 114-106 for a 2-0 series lead in a game that included a chorus of howling boos for Green, who stomped on Sabonis in the lane in the fourth quarter.

Green was ejected for a flagrant foul. As fans yelled at him, he egged them on by waving his hands, cupping a hand to his ear as if to suggest he can’t hear them, and he stood on a chair to stand out even more.

Explained Green afterward: “My leg got grabbed. 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.”

Fox scored 24 points, including a big 3 late, and the Kings became the first team to take a 2-0 series lead on a Curry team. Fox said the Kings rallied after Green’s antics, saying afterward: “That brought us together. We huddled up and were like, ‘We have to win this game.’”

Sabonis scored 24 and Monk 18 for the Kings. Curry had 28.

Game 3: Curry scored 36 points, Looney had 20 rebounds and nine assists, and the Warriors looked the part of champions at home with a 114-97 victory without the suspended Green to pull to within 2-1 in the series.

“We’re a team with a lot of pride” Looney said. “We know how to respond when our back’s against the wall. We always usually show up.”

Sabonis was booed throughout by fans wearing yellow “Gold Blooded” T-shirts, cast as the villain, and he scored 15 points and had 16 rebounds. Fox had 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Sacramento. Kings fans who managed to score tickets were told that they could not bring any clanging cowbells, a staple for games in Sacramento over the decades, because they are banned at Chase Center.

Game 4: Green made a triumphant return for Golden State after his suspension, offering to come off the bench and to defend Fox in the second half. Curry scored 32 points in the 126-125 victory to tie the series 2-2 as Harrison Barnes missed a 3 at the buzzer.

Fox had 38 points, and while guarded on the final possession by Curry and Green, he passed to Barnes, who hit the back of the rim.

“Wide open,” Barnes said afterward. “Fox trusted me to take that shot. Back rim. On to the next, but I feel confident in where we are.”

Jordan Poole scored 22, Andrew Wiggins 18 and Looney had eight points and 14 rebounds for Golden State.

Game 5: Back at Golden 1, the Warriors turned a 2-0 series deficit into a 3-2 series lead, dousing a hostile crowd with a 123-116 victory.

Curry had 31 points, Green had 21 points in his Sacramento return, and Golden State won a road game for an NBA-record 28th consecutive playoff series, which included the entire run of Curry, Green and Klay Thompson. Championship grit, in other words.

“The experience that they’ve had over the last decade playing in a lot of big games, it’s definitely helpful,” Kerr said. “I thought they did a great job tonight of staying poised down the stretch.”

Thompson had 25 points, Wiggins 20 and Looney had 22 rebounds. Fox scored 25 points despite a broken index finger, but he went 0 for 6 in the fourth quarter.

Game 6: Up against the wall against a Warriors team that had won the previous three games, the Kings pushed back, prevailing 118-99 in San Francisco to force a Game 7.

Monk scored 28 points, Fox had 26 with 11 assists, and Keegan Murray had 15 and 12 rebounds for his first playoff double-double.

Curry scored 28, Thompson 22 and Looney had 13 rebounds, but the Kings halted a six-game losing streak on the Warriors court, dating back to Feb. 25, 2020.

“They came out with more force and more energy and they executed better,” Kerr said. “The right team won, that’s for sure. They came in and earned the victory. And now we’ve got to regroup and get ready for Game 7.”

Game 7: With a chance to oust the Warriors at home, the Kings were not able to withstand a blast of Curry greatness. Fox had 16 points and Sabonis 22, and that was not enough against Curry.

The guard scored a playoff career-high 50 points, the most prolific Game 7 effort in NBA history, in a 120-110 effort to advance in ending Sacramento’s best season since 2006.

“For Steph to be the first player ever to get 50 in a Game 7, he’s sublime,” Kerr said.

Said Curry: “It’s amazing because you’re still in the fight. Having been down 2-0, nothing was guaranteed. You don’t take anything for granted.”

Looney had 21 rebounds and Curry made 20 of 38 field goals, including seven 3’s, leading teammate Thompson to say later, “What an incredible performance. This is a Game 7 I’ll forever remember as the Steph Curry game.”