Chicago 113, Sacramento 109: Fourth quarter meltdown dooms the Kings

SACRAMENTO — The Kings needed a closer. Instead, they watched a late lead slip away behind the efforts of DeMar DeRozan and Coby White, who led the short-handed Bulls to a 113-109 victory over Sacramento Monday night.

It gets old, doesn’t it, reading an injury report and assuming a Kings loss when their opponent is short handed? And as much as we might joke about such things, it’s happened enough to give credence to the problem.

“In our business, teams can go on a run, the script can flip like that, and before you know it, you’re in trouble,” Mike Brown said. “I am not sure if our guys took their foot off the gas, but I feel like we didn’t do what we should have done.”

Sacramento once again played with their food a bit, especially in the second quarter, though they closed the first two quarters at an impressive clip. A 19-3 run over the final five minutes of the first gave Sacramento a 36-22 lead, a 13-3 run to end a sloppy second quarter sent them into the half up 56-49, and they ran away from the Bulls with a blistering start to the third, out-scoring the visitors 25-12 through the first six minutes of the frame. Though the Bulls went on a run of their own, Sacramento was still up 91-77 after three.

The third quarter was also Sabonis time; after a slow scoring start in the first half, Domas dunked all over the Bulls in the third, scoring 12 of his 18 total points in less than eight minutes of floor time to secure his 43rd consecutive double-double. The 12 points including four dunks, as Sabonis got whatever he wanted in and around the painted area.

But things started to unravel at the end of the third, when Chris Duarte picked up a very unnecessary technical foul his team up 19 and 2:33 to play in the third.

That moment swung the momentum in a big way, according the Brown. “That shows you how quickly the momentum can swing in an NBA game. We were up, we pick up a T, and the momentum swings the other way.”

That was the beginning of a Bulls’ run that saw them score the next eight points as they clawed their way back into the game.

With the Kings up 91-79 and 10:53 to play, Sabonis went to the bench with his fifth foul. Mike Brown chose to go small, running out a lineup of Monk, Fox, Murray, Barnes, and Lyles that would mostly hold serve before Sabonis and Kevin Huerter re-entered the game with just over seven minutes to play. Trey Lyles had six straight points during the small ball run, but the rest of the offense sputtered during the nearly four minute stretch.

“Our ball containment wasn’t good in enough stretches, our turnovers were very costly for us tonight, and one of the tell tale signs for us that usually results in wins is the 50/50 balls. There were seven of them tonight and we came up with two of them,” Brown said.

Sacramento got back to an 11 point advantage with 6:13 to play, but saw Murray pick up his fifth foul shortly thereafter and less than a minute later the lead had shrunk to just seven. After a pair of Sabonis free throws – part of a 16-18 effort from the line by the Kings on the night – Chicago went on a 5-0 run, only to see Sabonis answer with a layup to push the lead back to six with four to play. But Sabonis would foul out with less than three to play and his team clinging to a three point lead, on a Coby White three point play.

White tied the game at 109 on a driving layup after a Fox turnover, and gave his team the lead with another off balance bucket after a Lyles turnover seconds later. The latter gave him a career high 37 points, eclipsing his previous career high of 36, also against the Kings. Down 111-109 with 36 seconds remaining, the Kings could not inbound the ball out of a timeout, as Fox threw it away trying to find Monk.

“It’s something that we run normally,” Fox said of the play. “We had Vucevic on HB – that would usually be Domas, but he had fouled out. I didn’t want to take that chance, so I looked for Malik, and me and Malik had a miscommunication.”

The Kings got the miss they needed on the other end but a diving Lyles couldn’t secure the rebound, sliding out of bounds with 14.8 remaining. DeRozan iced the win with two free throws and 3.5 remaining, and boos rained down shortly thereafter.

There was some good to point to in the game; Fox was a magician with the basketball, scoring 20 points and dropping 10 assists in his return to the lineup after a two game absence. But he also had five turnovers, including three in the fourth, and missed his final four attempts from the floor. Sabonis was exceptional in the second half and finished with 18/21, but his team looked completely lost without his presence once he fouled out late. Monk was scoreless in the second half while Murray was held to just two points. Meanwhile, the Bulls shot nearly 60% from the field in the second half, outscoring the Kings 36-18 over the final 12 minutes.

In addition to White’s big game, Chicago got 33 points from DeRozan, 20 from Ayo Dosunmu, and 10 from Nikola Vucevic. Though the bench provided just 11 points and nine rebounds, the starting unit – especially White and DeRozan, was more than enough Monday night. The Bulls got smoked on the boards 51-32, but won the turnover battle 17-9. The Kings led by as many as 22 points before losing by four.

For the player’s and the coaches, the loss was a difficult one to swallow, and indicative of problems that have plagued the team all season.

“Obviously the mood, everybody’s down, because it was a winnable game,” Brown said. “Even though we didn’t feel like we played well, it still felt like a winnable game. We felt like we let it slip through our fingers.”

“It’s definitely been a rollercoaster for us this year,” Fox said. “We always talk about being consistent… we have to be consistent throughout the game and throughout the season.”

The Kings have three more opportunities this week, including two at home, to try and find that consistency. It starts with a trip to Los Angeles Wednesday for a date with the Lakers, who are searching for much of the same thing.