featured-image

Kings Clip Los Angeles in Comeback Victory

Trailing 94-76 with 5:16 remaining, Sunday’s contest seemed all but over through 43 minutes in Los Angeles. No team had fought back from an 18-point disadvantage in the final five minutes of a contest this season. And in the past 20 years, teams holding such a lead were 6,746-1 entering Sunday.

Sacramento was poised to be the second to earn a victory in that two-decades long span.

The Kings held the Clippers to just three points in the contest’s final five minutes. They went on a 22-3 run that earned them the narrow one-point victory.

It didn’t come easy. Sactown found themselves trailing by a dozen with 3:30 to go, before Buddy Hield came alive to flip momentum in the purple and black’s favor.

Starting the game 0-of-5 from downtown, Hield went 3-of-3 in the final minutes. This included a game-changing sequence featuring back-to-back treys in a span of eight seconds that cut the Clippers lead to three.

Down 97-96, a Langston Galloway triple and solid defense earned the visitors one final chance at a go-ahead basket with seven seconds on the clock.

Corralling a rebound, Hield looked up court to find Ben McLemore, whose attempt missed. But Trill’s court-running paid off in the form of a putback game-winner.

NOTES

  • Darren Collison was key in the team’s victory, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
  • Anthony Tolliver ended with five three-pointers on six attempts.
  • Georgios Papagiannis finished with 12 points, including six in the final frame and a key assist to Galloway.
  • Buddy Hield scored 11 points in the last five minutes of regulation, totaling 15 on the afternoon.


Next Up