Forcing Game 7, the Youthful Kings Make Golden State Look ‘a Little Tired’

SAN FRANCISCO — In an otherwise quiet moment before the Sacramento Kings took the court for their most important playoff game in nearly two decades, Harrison Barnes gathered his teammates around him and urged them to focus on the task at hand so they could take the series back to Sacramento.

At the ripe age of 30, Barnes is considered a voice of wisdom on a team brimming with youth. The Kings are so bouncy and bubbly that they seem almost carbonated. Perhaps their postseason inexperience is serving them well in their first-round series with the Golden State Warriors.

After all, the basketball gods were not favoring the Kings ahead of Game 6 on Friday night. They were on the brink of elimination after having lost three straight, a grim stretch that included a loss in Sacramento on Wednesday. De’Aaron Fox, the team’s All-Star point guard, was coping with a broken finger on his shooting hand. And, of course, the Kings were facing Golden State, a championship-tested team that appeared to have found its rhythm.

So, what did the Kings do? They assembled one of their most complete games of the season in a 118-99 victory that tied the series at three games apiece and ensured a Game 7 in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon, signaling to everyone — as if anyone needed proof at this late stage — that their resurgence is no fluke.

There was never any question that the Kings were talented and brash. But they are resilient, too.

“It’s no pressure for us because didn’t nobody think we would be here,” said the Kings guard Malik Monk, 25, who scored a team-high 28 points off the bench. “Man, I’ve never been to a Game 7, so I don’t know what to expect. I just know I’m going to go out there and play 110 percent, give it my all and continue to do what I’ve been doing.”