Kings 109, Clippers 95: Dominant second-half propels Sacramento to big win

SACRAMENTO — Tuesday’s game, a battle between two teams separated by just four games with eight to play, should have had a “big game” feel.

Through the first 11:56, it did not.

Both teams appeared to be going through the motions early, with neither connecting on better than 40% of their field goals attempts while combing for eight turnovers in the first period. But the tenor and tenacity changed thanks to a four second flurry that saw Brandon Boston and Trey Lyles hit back to back threes with the quarter winding down.

That energy was followed early in the second period with an emphatic Alex Len block led to a shot clock violation that seemed to wake up the Kings, who responded with a 9-0 run to take a 33-24 lead with 9:41 to play in the half. Len played a role in Sacramento expanding the lead as well, forcing a bad pass that turned into a De’Aaron Fox dunk to push the advantage to 11 with 8:37 to play and forcing a Clippers’ timeout.

A pair of Davion Mitchell threes out of the break put Sacramento up 44-28, but the Clippers answered, going on a 14-6 run over the next two and a half minutes to claw back within six with less than five to play in the half.

The teams traded buckets out of the timeout, with Domantas Sabonis and Fox going to work on the offensive end and the Clippers getting quality looks for Norman Powell outside and Ivica Zubac inside. But the teams would combine to miss their next nine attempts from the field before Powell converted a three-point play to cut the lead to three, only to see Mitchell answer with his fourth three of the game on his way to a 14 point first half.

Trey Lyles spoke on the bench’s play, and Mitchell’s scoring, after the win. “We have guys that can score the ball,” Lyles said. “Davion showed that the last few games – he’s shown that the last few years. We have guys that can step up and make plays, it’s just showing that and being consistent.”

Mitchell mentioned that Malik Monk encouraged him to keep shooting if the defense was going to continue to close out short, and talked about his confidence over the recent stretch.

“I’m not thinking,” he said. “I’m just making quick decisions, playing good basketball, and taking what the defense gives me.”

Mike Brown talked about Mitchell’s increased role, and the trust he has put in him. “With that freedom, he’s handled it the right way, and he’s starting to show what he’s capable of – not just as an on ball defender but as a scorer. He worked really hard this offseason on his offensive game, and it’s starting to show at the right time.”

The third quarter has been the bane of the Kings’ existence much of this season, especially at home, where it feels like they have given up big leads time and time again. It appeared early that the pattern would repeat, but then Sabonis happened.

In a little less than a minute’s time, Sabonis hammered home a dunk off a beautiful Keon Ellis feed, then assisted on a pair of Harrison Barnes triples to put his team up ten, 67-57. Sabonis also secured his 58th consecutive double-double in the frame, giving him a league-leading 71 on the season.

This is the point where I was going to write “and Keegan Murray was quietly putting together another solid outing”, but this is also the point where Murray got loud.

After draining a three from the corner, Murray took a good feed from Sabonis hard to the rack, slamming the ball home over Zubac with authority – and earning rare praise from dunk critic Malik Monk during the ensuing timeout. The flurry put Sacramento up 76-62 with 4:11 to play in the third and gave Murray a team-high 16. Mike Brown talked about wanting Murray to be more aggressive in the absence of Monk and Kevin Huerter, and his second-year player delivered once again Tuesday night.

“Keegan, last year, he was primarily a catch and shoot three point shooter,” Brown said. “This year he’s shown the ability to defend at a high level, to rebound at a high level, and to score at all three levels. He’s so strong, he’s a big man, and he can play with some force. And it’s starting to show. And we need that with Malik and Kevin out – we need him to step up, and do so with some force.”

In Monk’s absence, the scoring of the dunk fell on Lyles. “It was alright, I would give it like a 6.”

Murray finished the night with 19 points, five rebounds, and two assists, while notching a game-high 18 shot attempts. He had another tough finish at the rim that led to a three point play and pushed the lead to 17, and Fox would finish the frame with a bucket and an assist to Alex Len to make it 91-70 through three.

Fox and Len connected for another alley-oop early in the fourth to make it 96-70, and after Russell Westbrook completely whiffed on what should have been an easy layup attempt, Los Angeles all but packed it in. The Kings cruised to the finish despite Westbrook’s 11 fourth quarter points, winning by the final of 109-95.

Sacramento was led by Sabonis, who was one assist shy of a triple-double with 22/20/9, Fox, who dropped 20 points and seven assists, and Murray, who attempted a team-high 18 field goals and scored 19 points. Mitchell was excellent off the bench, scoring 14 on 5-10 shooting, including 4-7 from behind the arc. Trey Lyles added 15 in his second game back as well.

Alex Len was effective on both ends of the floor, scoring four points on his two dunks, while pulling down seven rebounds and blocking three shots. He had an assist and a steal as well.

Mike Brown was fired up about his performance. “At the end of the day, freaking Alex Len, what a man he was today. He played 12 minutes and was +18. He played a beautiful, beautiful game of basketball.”

For the Clippers, Paul George (18), Norman Powell (17), and Zubac (10) joined Westbrook in double-figures. Sacramento help LA to just 40.8% shooting from the field and forced 15 turnovers in one of their strongest defensive performances of the season. They also limited James Harden to seven points on 1-7 shooting.

Sacramento now heads out on the road for a difficult East Coast swing that will see them play four games in six nights, starting with the Knicks Thursday night. Currently tied for seventh with the Suns, and one game back from the Pelicans and Dallas for the sixth seed, there is not much margin for error over the final seven games.

“Whether we go East or we are here, these games matter,” Brown said. “Every time we step out on the floor, we have to be locked in, we have to try and get wins, because there’s still movement in the standings. We have to be able to take care of what we can.”