First, Draymond Green suggested to Warriors coach Steve Kerr that he come off the bench for Game 4 against the visiting Sacramento Kings after Golden State had played so brilliantly without him.

Then at halftime Sunday, a couple of assistant coaches offered up the idea to Kerr that Green should defend De’Aaron Fox for the final two quarters.

Those collaborative, spot-on moves helped overshadow a late blunder, and now the defending champions are all tied up in their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Stephen Curry scored 32 points but gave Sacramento a late chance when he called a timeout Golden State didn’t have, then the Warriors held on to defeat the Kings 126-125 when Harrison Barnes missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“These games are coming down to the wire, and you’ve just got to really finish possessions and try to give yourself the best chance, and then sometimes, it’s just, does the ball go in or not,” Kerr said.

Fox had 38 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Sacramento. His 3 with 28.7 seconds left pulled the Kings within one, then Curry missed a 16-foot jumper on the other end and Keegan Murray corralled the rebound. With Curry and Green defending, Fox dished to former Warrior Barnes for the potential game-winning 3, which hit the back of the rim.

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

Golden State led 126-121 with 42.4 seconds left when Curry called the excessive timeout, and Malik Monk made the technical free throw for Sacramento.

Klay Thompson made a baseline 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer and another with 3:24 left, finishing with 26 points for the Warriors.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center, where the Kings went ahead 2-0.

Green came off the bench after serving a one-game suspension while the Warriors dominated Thursday’s Game 3 without him. Given the momentum and success, Kerr stuck with Jordan Poole in the starting five Sunday.

Green, disciplined for stepping on Domantas Sabonis’ chest in the fourth quarter of Game 2, checked in to a rousing ovation with 6:38 left in the opening quarter and wound up with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Sabonis had 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists and now heads home determined to get the Kings closer to winning their first playoff series since eliminating Dallas in the 2004 first round.

TIMBERWOLVES 114, NUGGETS 108, OT >> Anthony Edwards scored 34 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Minnesota beat Denver in Game 4 to avoid elimination.

Nikola Jokic tied a playoff career high with 43 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Nuggets, who were looking for the four-game sweep.

Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, which held on after Denver scored the final 12 points of regulation to force overtime. Mike Conley had 19 points for the Timberwolves.

Edwards resurrected Minnesota in the third as the Timberwolves went on a 23-9 run. He scored 16 of his points in the quarter and the Timberwolves eventually led by 12 midway through the fourth.

KNICKS 102, CAVALIERS 93 >> Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, RJ Barrett had 26 and New York took a 3-1 lead over visiting Cleveland in their first-round series.

Josh Hart moved into the starting lineup and added 19 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who can reach the second round for the first time since 2013 with a win in Cleveland on Wednesday.

New York forced Cleveland All-Star Donovan Mitchell into one of the worst games of his postseason career, finishing with just 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Darius Garland had 23 points and 10 assists for the Cavs, bouncing back nicely after going 4 for 21 in the Knicks’ Game 3 romp.

Barrett was only 6 for 25 in the two games in Cleveland but has been outstanding back at home. He had five straight points to break the Knicks free from a 75-all tie, then added another basket before Hart scored to push it to 90-81 midway during a stretch when Cleveland could only manage two baskets in more than four minutes.

CELTICS 129, HAWKS 121 >> Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 31 points and Boston defeated host Atlanta for a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

Tatum and Brown combined to score Boston’s final 16 points.

Brown has been wearing a protective mask after sustaining facial contusions in February. He took off the device after making only 1 of 7 shots and went 11 of 15 the rest of the way.

Trae Young led Atlanta with 35 points.