Warriors shoot their way past Kings

Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody combined for 43 points, Buddy Hield and Stephen Curry made it four Golden State players with 20 or more, and the Warriors improved to 4-1 in the Jimmy Butler era with a 132-108 romp over the rival Sacramento Kings on Friday night in the California capital.

Moody and Hield, who came off the bench against his former team, led the way with 22 points each, Podziemski had 21 and Curry 20, helping the Warriors move past the Kings in the Western Conference standings.

Butler contributed 17 points to the cause.

DeMar DeRozan led all scorers with 34 points for the Kings, who lost their second straight.

Facing a team against which they had lost twice — once at each site — earlier in the season, the Warriors gradually pulled away from the hosts, scoring more than 30 points in all four quarters while outscoring the Kings in each.

Led by 8-for-11 accuracy from both Moody and Hield, Golden State shot 53.8 percent for the game, using 40 assists to lead the way to 50 hoops.

The Warriors also shot 46.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, making 20 of 43, with 7-footer Quentin Post making all three of his attempts.

Moody and Hield each shot 5-for-8 from deep while Curry added four in nine attempts while also finding time for six assists and two steals.

Butler, acquired from Miami before the trade deadline, had seven assists and three steals on a night when he was perfect at the foul line, going 7-for-7. The Warriors made all 12 of their free throws as a team.

Draymond Green chipped in with six points, two blocks and team highs in rebounds with eight and assists with nine for the Warriors, who improved to two games over .500 for the first time since 18-16 on Jan. 4.

Domantas Sabonis ran up 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Kings, missing a triple-double by one assist.

Zach LaVine, Malik Monk and Keegan Murray had 13 points apiece for Sacramento, which lost despite shooting 50.6 percent from the field. DeRozan was the most accurate of the hosts, going 10-for-14 overall while also dropping in all 10 of his foul shots.

DeRozan also hit four of his seven 3-point shots, but the Kings were nonetheless outscored 60-33 on from deep.

–Field Level Media