Kings Comeback Falls Short Against Clippers

Dec 27, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:38 am

(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

by Franklin Cartoscelli – Sports 1140 KHTK

The Sacramento Kings have a knack for comeback wins in dramatic fashion.

Coming off of back-to-back wins after trailing by 19 points, the Kings quickly fell behind by 21 points early in the second quarter on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Hopes were high for another big comeback, but to no avail.

Sacramento could not regain their comeback magic as they fell to the Clippers 127-118 on the first night of a back-to-back.

Well you can't score much faster than that 😳 pic.twitter.com/q4bQRHgev1

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 27, 2018

Sacramento, who trailed by as many as 26 points, cut the Clippers lead to 121-118 with 1:12 remaining thanks to a 22-1 run by the Kings bench to get them back in the game.

The Clippers responded with a Lou Williams floater and free throws by Danilo Gallinari to put the game out of reach at 125-118 with 26 seconds remaining.

The Kings came out flat on defense, and never fully figured it out against a Clippers team that shot 50% from the field and 43% from the three-point line. In the end, it was the Kings first half play that cemented the loss on Wednesday night.

Over the past seven games, Sacramento has trailed by an average of 13.5 points going into halftime.

All Sacramento starters finished in double figures, led by 19 points and 9 assists from De’Aaron Fox. Buddy Hield, who had averaged 28 points per game over his past six games, struggled from the field as he finished with 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting, including 0-for-6 from three-point land.

Kings coach Dave Joerger pulled all Sacramento starters in the fourth in anticipation for the back-to-back finale tomorrow against the Lakers. The bench did not quit, turning a laugher into a hard fought win for the Clippers.

Ben McLemore scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to lead the comeback attempt for the bench unit.

Los Angeles was led by Lou Williams, who scored 24 points in only 22 minutes. Montrezl Harrell chipped chipped in with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Coming Up

The Kings come home to face the hobbled Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

LeBron James and Rajon Rondo will miss the contest for the Lakers, who are coming off a Christmas Day blowout where they bested the world champion Golden State Warriors 127-101 in Oakland.

Catch all the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, starting with pregame coverage at 6:30pm.