On the brink of pulling off a 16-point comeback over the Los Angeles Clippers, the Sacramento Kings were unable to close it out down the stretch and lost the game 121-115. The Kings had several opportunities to win the game but missed three shots and turned it over four times in the final two minutes.
The game started out looking like another blowout for the Kings, who were down by double digits for most of the first half and gave up a staggering 72 points by halftime. On the other side of the break, Sacramento clamped down on defense and only gave up 49 points in the second half.
The Kings were no slouch on offensive either. They dropped 60 points in the first half, shot 49 percent from the field, and won the overall turnover battle. This largely came on the backs of Bogdan Bogdanovic and Geroge Hill. Bogdanovic had a career night with 22 points and 4/6 shooting from downtown, while Hill took over in the second half for 21 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Kings also got clutch play from Zach Randolph (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Kosta Koufos (14 points, 14 rebounds) to pull Sacramento ahead by one in the final minutes. However, momentum stopped there and Los Angeles retook the lead for good.
Like clockwork these days, the Clippers got a huge night from star sixth man Lou Williams, who had 30 points and six assists. This comes a night after Williams had a 50-point outpour, during a win over the Golden State Warriors. Montrezl Harrell was also deadly for Los Angeles, as he dropped 25 points on an amazing 11/12 shooting off the bench.
The Kings got caught in a hole tonight because they lacked any semblance of energy on defense during the first half. This has become a common theme of the season, and Sacramento lacks the fire power to work through those defensive lapses. Blame it on a youth, blame it on team that hasn’t had much experience playing together, but success will never come until this is properly addressed.
Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 points on several big alley-oop dunks, while Buddy Hield added 14 points and five assists off the bench. Sacramento falls to 13-28 and will travel down to Los Angeles on Saturday to face off against the Clippers again.
