Kings Stumble in 113-106 Loss to Chicago
Dec 2, 2019, 10:33 PM | Updated: 10:34 pm
Photo by Kimani Okearah
Coming off the heels of an improbable overtime comeback win over the Denver Nuggets, the Sacramento Kings fell flat on their faces at home Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, who had lost four of their last five games heading into the matchup. Sacramento enjoyed an early 11 point lead, but quickly fell behind by 19 points and couldn’t complete another comeback. Kings fall to 8-11 on the season after the 113-106 defeat.
“Well, that’s why we continue to preach playing 48 (minutes),” said Kings head coach Luke Walton.
Sacramento was outscored 33-21 in the 2nd quarter, too big of a gap to overcome despite winning the other three quarters.
“They play really really hard. Coming off a big win, you’ve seen this time of game in the NBA a million times. Unfortunately we had a little bit of a letdown.”
Buddy Hield had another tough shooting night, but still managed to lead the Kings in scoring with 26 points. He had a chance to give Sacrament the lead late with a transition three, but it just wouldn’t fall. One of his 21 misses on the night.
“We’re not where we want to be for sure. We show signs…we need to be locked in and focused every game,” said Hield.
The Kings bench as a whole struggled, combining for just 24 points while shooting 40%. Sacramento also turned the ball over 18 times, resulting in 22 Chicago points.
“We are a team. We are all in this together. There’s no blame to put on any one (player),” said Walton.
Chicago was led by Zach LaVine, who scored a game high 28 points. The Bulls shot 43% from beyond-the-arc, hitting 16 total three-pointers.
Sacramento heads back on the road for four straight, starting with the their third meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
