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Belinelli and Collison Key Comeback Win

Going into the half, the Kings trailed the Trail Blazers by 15 points and were looking for a spark on offense.

That spark showed up in a big way in the form of Marco Belinelli and Darren Collison, who powered the Kings to an exciting comeback victory on the road in Portland.

With the Kings still behind 14 points after a back and fourth third quarter, Collison took over and went on a personal 10-0 run to shave the deficit to just five points midway through the period.

After his scoring outburst, it was Belinelli’s turn.

The new Kings guard knocked down a three-pointer (one of his four on the night) to tie the game at 89 with just under five minutes to go. Marco would go on to score 13 points in the 4th quarter, leading the Kings to a chance to win the game with 9.7 seconds remaining.

The Kings just missed a potential buzzer beater when a Collison floater missed in the final seconds, sending the game to overtime.

During the extra period, Belinelli continued to stay hot, scoring 10 of the team’s 12 points in overtime including a go-ahead three that gave Sacramento a lead that they would not relinquish.

Belinelli would finish with 32 points to lead all scorers. He also tallied four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Collison posted an impressive double-double with his 21 points and 10 assists as well as four rebounds.

While the second half was dominated by Collison and Belinelli, Kosta Koufos also had a strong outing, recording 22 points and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes of action.

As for the rookie Willie Cauley-Stein, he also made some great plays in his 20 minutes on the court, including a steal leading to a dunk that would be his first preseason NBA field goal.

Also making their Kings debuts, Rajon Rondo and Kosta Koufos contributed solid efforts. Rondo finished with five points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 19 minutes, and Koufos pitched in 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Kings will look to ride this positive momentum as they travel to Phoenix to play the second game of their six-game preseason slate against the Suns on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

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