With two and a half minutes left in the game, the Los Angeles Clippers led the Sacramento Kings by a score of 99-90. It was a hard fought game, but it seemed like it just wasn’t in the cards. But the Kings kept fighting. Zach LaVine hit a three to cut the lead to six. The Clippers missed on the other end, and LaVine hit another three. Suddenly, the game was within reach. A Harden free throw, a DeMar DeRozan middie, and the Kings were within two with under a minute left. The Golden 1 Center was rocking. The Clippers inbounded out of a timeout, and the Kings got a stop, but couldn’t secure the rebound, or the next rebound, or the next, or the next. After four missed opportunities to grab a defensive rebound, the Kings fouled Harden. The Beard made his first free throw, but missed his second. A quick Harden foul sent LaVine to the line, where he made both, cutting the lead to 1, but just 3.2 seconds were remaining and it was Clippers ball. In one of the most exciting defensive plays I can ever remember, Keegan Murray used his length to jump in front of Bogan Bogdanovic and steal James Harden’s inbound pass. Keegan immediately called a timeout, and the Kings had a sideline out of bounds with 2 second remaining. Golden 1 Center was ready to explode. Trey Lyles inbounded to DeMar DeRozan, who split his defended in a way we’ve seen him win games earlier this season, but he was hip-checked by Ivica Zubac and missed the would-be game winner. No whistle. Game over.
It was a heartbreaking way to end the game. The Kings had fought and clawed and had all these little things work out in storybook fashion, and the game ends on a moving defender hitting a shooter and the refs swallowing their whistle. Who knows if DeMar would have made his free throws. Who knows how it may have been different if a dozen other things had gone differently in that game. But it was hard not to leave that game with a real sour taste in your mouth.
A few thoughts and notes on individual players:
- James Harden finished with a triple double with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. It would have been a quadruple-double if “Uncalled Push-Offs” was a stat.
- Zach LaVine led the Kings with 26 points, 13 of which came in the 4th quarter.
- DeMar DeRozan passed Reggie Miller on the all-time NBA scoring list in this game. But DeMar continued his trend of forcing shots and chasing whistles that wouldn’t come. I have no issues with the final shot, he didn’t have time to do anything else, but his shooting and throwing his arms in the air begging for a call was annoying me throughout the game. He finished with 16 points on 20 shots.
- Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jonas Valanciunas had 9 points and 7 rebounds. The duo battled hard. Zubac is a really tough matchup, and although he finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, it felt like Sacramento’s tandem of Lithuanian big men were great.
- It was good to have Keegan Murray back for this one after he missed several games with back soreness. He finished with 9 points and 8 rebounds. His incredible steal at the end was his second steal of the game.
- Props to Devin Carter. He played his ass off defensively on James Harden. Those uncalled push-offs by Harden? Carter was the victim of several. But you could tell Harden was still annoyed by Carter’s pressure. Carter ended up with 7 points, 2 steals, 2 assists, and 1 rebound in 16 minutes, and I felt like he had an even bigger impact than the box score. Keon Ellis also had a bigger impact than his box score, and in similar ways. Having Ellis and Carter to trade off as defensive pests is a nice combo.
- Trey Lyles was really solid in this one too. 9 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
While the final outcome of this was a letdown, I enjoyed this game a lot more than I was enjoying Kings games a week or two ago. The team has some fight to them, and I enjoyed watching them refuse to quietly give up. This loss means the Kings will not finish this season with a winning record this season, but they’ll have one more chance to get their 40th win of the season.
Up Next
The Sacramento Kings will finish their regular season against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, April 13th.
With end of game shots, refs usually are more restrained with blowing the whistle.
I imagine that if Domas would have been called for hip-checking Harden in a similar way on such a last shot, Kings fans would have been fuming.
Great photo of that last shot, by the way.
I love when our photo service has pictures that perfectly capture a key moment like that.
My DVR is frozen right now with Keegan coming out of the scrum at the foul line with a path to an uncontested layup. Lob pass, Kings win. I guess Zubac blocked Lyles’ view. Who does everyone think Doug designed that for?
It doesn’t really matter, it’s not going to make anybody feel any better.
Have we made that the TKH official slogan yet?
So predictable. Send the ball to the guy having an inefficient night for the game-winner instead of the other ex-Bull who just hit 2 threes and freethrows. 2.2 secs is 7 seconds too long for DDR to deflate the ball and pull-up. And if he was foul-baiting a three, he’s no Jaden Ivey unfortunately. And Westbrook ain’t flying through the air either.
This is great! Rec’d
I didn’t buy that baby blue sactown jersey and I still regret it
Check Ebay. I see them on there often.
This “40 wins” dude will be a King’s legend for life.
Stole this reference for the Suns preview.
Woot woot
Can’t tell with my limited DVR whether DeRozan had time to pass to Lyles when Zubac double teamed him, but that probably wouldn’t matter, would it? He’d never do that. And that double team was 100% predictable. That play is the Kangz in a nutshell. Not sure Brown/Fox would have done any better.
I agree, Greg – lots of good to see in this game by Sacramento.
Defensive presence most of all which I thought, the Kings played up to the level of their opponent, but on the D side instead of the O.
Carter’s making better decisions and him hitting those heaves – he even moon balls his runners – makes him more than just a defender. Keon and Keegan were solid. Throw Jake of LaRavia in there (will we see him soon?) and the paint/post presence of Trey Lyles, and that’s some solid bench production.
I’ll add, I am so happy to have JV on the team. Loved his driving layup over Harden.
Monk, surprisingly, was not particularly missed, IMO. The bench scored on defense. This version, in this game, of these Kings mirrored LAC more than the Spray it outscore the opponents teams we’ve become used to seeing.
IF they play this way, consistently– which is antithetical to what we’ve seen- this is not your
Father’s Brother’sToddler’s Beam Team, it’s a different wavelength.I kept looking for a foul on the final shot replays. There really wasn’t much of one, especially when the Kings played right into a dbl team. The Clippers defense is really good. They may get away with a little physicality but welcome to playoff basketball. That team is tuned up and going to be a problem for somebody.
However. That’s 2 games where the mishap Kings have come just shy of being able to get a win. I have no idea what that says about anything. Maybe they’re inching closer to being competent Kings? Maybe someday they could actually be consistently competent and win 50+ again…
I was thrilled to have opted out of the Clips game in order to see the better Kings team defeat the Magic in Stockton.
Badge Legend