Sacramento Kings’ Rajon Rondo, left, guards Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors won 122-103. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry’s eyes lit up when he saw little brother Seth guarding him for the first time in their NBA career, and the reigning MVP promptly missed a long 3-pointer.
“It was a very cool moment,” the Golden State star said. “I missed and he let me know about it. After that I was able to see a couple go in.”
That’s an understatement.
Curry scored his first 17 points in the final 3:16 of the first half and went on to record his sixth career triple-double as the Warriors won for the 29th time in 30 games this season, 122-103 over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.
“He’s done that so many times throughout the year, I don’t think that’s me, per se,” Seth Curry said. “He’s going to turn it up. He’s done that probably once a game, had a run like that. We tried to stop him from getting going, but it’s tough. The game was going so fast at that time, that’s when he’s at his best.”
Curry had 23 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 assists, Klay Thompson scored 29 and Draymond Green had 25 points for the Warriors, who have won 33 straight regular-season home games.
Omri Casspi scored a career-high 36 points, tying Mike Bibby’s team record with nine 3-pointers for Sacramento.
But star center DeMarcus Cousins got ejected in the third quarter and the Kings lost their 11th straight against their Northern California rivals.
“I’m not sure I liked how we responded,” coach George Karl said. “We had a tough, bad refereed game. But we can’t emotionally lose it.”
The Kings were excited to have a healthy Cousins for the first time in three meetings with the Warriors this season. But the All-Star big man played less than 13 minutes before getting ejected. After sitting out most of the first half in foul trouble, Cousins was upset after getting called for his fifth foul in the third quarter.
Monty McCutchen then called Cousins for a technical, setting him off on a tirade that led to another technical called by Mitchell Ervin and an ejection. Cousins had to be restrained by teammates before being escorted off the court.
Stephen Curry made three of the four free throws to start a 15-0 run that turned a two-point deficit into a 79-66 lead for the Warriors. His 3-pointer just before the third quarter ended put Golden State up 90-75.
After trailing early, the Kings went on a 28-7 spurt to build a 41-30 lead on one of Casspi’s seven first-half 3s. But Casspi’s sharp shooting seemed to wake up Stephen Curry, who missed his first six shots and was scoreless for the first 20:44 of the game.
He ended that drought with a 3-pointer that started a stretch of him scoring 17 straight Golden State points in the final 3:16 of the half. Stephen Curry hit five 3s and a layup during that span to the delight of the home crowd.
“I just found a spark and shots started to fall,” he said. “All the ones before felt pretty good, most of them were just in and out. I never lost confidence. Thankfully a couple went in.”
Casspi hit four 3s in that same stretch to help Sacramento take a 61-58 lead at the break.