Streak Snapped: Kings Defeat Clippers At Home For First Time Since 2013
Dec 4, 2021, 9:52 PM | Updated: 10:28 pm
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Entering play on Saturday, Los Angeles had won 15-straight games in Sacramento
Party like it’s 2013.
For the first time since March 19th of 2013, the Sacramento Kings have defeated the Los Angeles Clippers on their home floor.
Behind Terence Davis’ greatest showing in a Kings uniform and an all-around effort from Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento was able to hold off Los Angeles in the fourth quarter to claim a 104-99 win on Saturday night–the first win agains the Clippers in Golden 1 Center’s five-year history.
With the win, the Kings snap a 15-game home losing streak to the Clippers and improve to 10-14 on the season after winning for the fourth time over the past six contests.
De’Aaron Fox scored 10 points (five-of-seven from the field) in the first quarter to help the Kings erase an early 16-8 Clippers lead. Sacramento was able knock shots down at an efficient clip (55-percent) in the period to even things up at 29-29 heading into the second quarter.
It was the first time that Fox had scored 10 points or more points in the first quarter since the season-opener in Portland back on October 20th.
Tyrese Haliburton caught fire in the first half, scoring a game-high 15 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field to pace the Kings to a 50-45 lead at the break. Sacramento’s starting backcourt of Fox and Haliburton combined for 27 points on 12-of-20 shooting in the first half in what was an exciting display of offensive firepower for the young duo.
While Fox and Haliburton were filling the stat-sheet on the offensive end, Chimezie Metu racked up five blocks in the first half, more than doubling his previous career-high of two.
Terence Davis caught fire in the third quarter, knocking down four three-point field goals en route to a 13-point period. Thanks to Davis’ contributions, Sacramento held a 76-70 lead heading into the fourth quarter as they looked to claim their second-straight win over the Clippers.
A 14-point Kings lead with 7:30 remaining would be erased by Paul George and the Clippers as Los Angeles cut the deficit to 93-90 with less than four minutes to play.
Davis’ red-hot second half would continue in the fourth as the young guard scored a quick five points over the span of 30 seconds to give the Kings a little breathing room at 98-92 with 2:48 remaining.
The Sacramento defense did a solid job of bottling up George and the rest of the Clippers offense down the stretch to hold the lead, not let things unravel (as we have seen multiple times this season) and defeat the Los Angeles at Golden 1 Center for the first time ever.
Don’t look now, but these Kings have won four of their past six games. With plenty of season to go, is it possible that this team has turned the page?
Rounding Out The Box Score
Just 48 hours removed from his first 20-point showing of the season, Terence Davis had quite the encore performance against the Clippers.
Davis was Saturday’s hero, scoring a game-high 28 points on nine-of-16 from the field and an impressive six-of-11 from three-point range over 29 minutes. The 24-year-old picked up a huge steal down the stretch to help seal the win in a very impressive performance from the young guard.
A large topic of discussion around Kings Land recently has been that Tyrese Haliburton needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end.
Those that wanted more from Haliburton got just that on Saturday night.
Haliburton scored 18 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field and four-of-eight from beyond the arc to go along with six rebounds, five assists and two steals over 37 minutes.
“I was just out there playing basketball,” Haliburton said of his aggressiveness in the win. “The first couple (of shots) went through and I felt good. Just was playing basketball.”
The sophomore guard was active in all aspects, producing an electrifying defensive sequence in the opening quarter that brought Golden 1 Center to its feet.
Marvin Bagley III claimed his first double-double of the season on Saturday, as the young forward scored 12 points (four-of-six shooting) and pulled down 11 rebounds over 20 minutes in his return from a non-COVID illness.
According to Kings head coach Alvin Gentry, Bagley was still feeling the after effects of his illness during the game, but was able to push through and put forth another strong effort as his resurgence continued.
“I’m just playing basketball and having fun out there. I’m enjoying the game,” Bagley said postgame. “Just to be out there, playing, smiling, cheering my teammates on, that’s what I love and how I’m going to continue to play the game. Whether it’s starting, coming off of the bench, no matter how many minutes I play, I want to help the team win however I can.”
De’Aaron Fox stuffed the stat-sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals over 37 minutes.
Injury Updates
- Harrison Barnes (right foot sprain) missed his fifth-consecutive game on Saturday night, but the forward is closing in on a return to action. Barnes was listed as doubtful prior to tip-off and is considered day-to-day moving forward. Sacramento has three consecutive off-days until its next matchup against Orlando on Wednesday, giving the forward plenty of time to heal up.
- Moe Harkless (left knee soreness) was listed as questionable before the Kings took the floor against the Clippers. The 28-year-old was ruled out shortly before tip-off and is considered day-to-day.
Coming Up
The Kings will take advantage of their longest break of the season thus far before facing the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
Last season, Sacramento and Orlando split a two-game series, with the most recent matchup being a 123-112 win for the Magic back on February 12th.
You can find all of your Kings vs Magic coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK starting at 5:30pm PST on on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry βThe High Flyerβ Turner at 5:30pm PST prior to a 7:00pm PST tip-off from Golden 1 Center.
