The Sacramento Kings soured Russell Westbrook’s debut at the Los Angeles Clippers this Friday and took a batting average of crazy and surreal meeting of furious and voracious assaults in both teams, what resolved after two overtimes and which he finished with the second-highest combined points in NBA history (Clippers 175-Kings 176).
The 351 points between the two teams in this vibrant duel fell just short of the all-time league record still held by the 1983 Detroit Pistons-Denver Nuggets who finished 186-184 after three overtimes (370 points between the two). . .
A crazy night with outboard numbers
A former Los Angeles Lakers like Malik Monk dazzled in Sacramento with 45 points and six 3-pointers coming off the bench while De’Aaron Fox shone with 42 points and 12 assists. For his part, Kawhi Leonard signed a great performance with 44 points (with impressive 16-of-22 shooting and 6-of-9 3-pointers) and Paul George backed him up with 34 points (including 5 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds.
The Angelenos shot a whopping 60.2% in field goals and an equally impressive 57.8% in triples (26-for-45) but fell 25-game to the Kings who weren’t far behind in accuracy (58.6% of effectiveness).
Coming out the Lakers’ back door after a stormy year and a half, Westbrook had his christening with neighbors and rivals those in purple and gold and added 17 points (7-of-13 shooting), 5 rebounds and 14 assists but missed 7 balls.
Shoot and shoot: so who defends?
Clippers (fifth in the West, 33-29) and Kings (third, 34-25) gave an inexhaustible start to the game. Fox and Kevin Huerter unleashed their fire for the visitors early and Domantas Sabonis showed quality inside while Kawhi and George replied at home. Westbrook began with a desire to please his new fans and was more interested in dealing the ball than hitting the basket. With an unstoppable back and forth, the Clippers went on an 11-0 run with their second unit, but the Kings fought back with a two-plus-one from Trey Lyles and Kawhi, fabulous with 13 points and 5-of-5 shooting, closed a very entertaining first quarter with a basket on the siren (40-40).
Without a word on either team’s defenses, the Clippers continued in the second period with their 3-point idyll to go 12-of-21 in the first half. Three consecutive 3-pointers between Kawhi and George made it a menacing 89-78 when only two minutes of the third quarter had been played. Also, Sabonis earned his personal fifth after an offensive foul but Mike Brown, who received a technique to protest that decision, decided to continue on the track. The great protagonist of the third period was Kawhi, titanic with 21 points only in that quarter with an immaculate 8 of 8 shooting from the field (5 of 5 in triples). With Sabonis playing with fire, Fox takes the team on his shoulders and Sacramento takes advantage of the Clippers’ countless turnovers to get to the result with options (117-110).
The offensive nonsense from this game continued to unite the names: Nico Batum was lethal off the triple and Monk emerged in the Kings’ second unit. The Clippers went on to win by 14 in the fourth quarter, but three consecutive turnovers left the score by a very narrow margin (147-146 with 1.22 left). George gets +3 from free throws but Monk, charming with 16 points in the last quarter, forces overtime with a triple with only one second left (153-153)
And they went to overtime just…
Monk bowled and continued to lead and the Kings, despite a foul out by Sabonis, made it into second overtime after George missed the game-winning shot (164-164). In the second stretch it seemed that the Clippers had finally secured the victory (+6 with three minutes to go), but the endless defeats condemned them definitively and the Fox-Monk duo, with surprising serenity in the last stretch, gave them a historic victory for the kings.
The rest of Friday’s results
Washington Wizards-NY Knicks 109-115
Atlanta Hawks v Cleveland Cavaliers 136-119
Milwaukee Bucks-Miami Heat 128-99
Charlotte Hornets vs Minnesota Timberwolves 121-113
Chicago Bulls-Brooklyn Nets 131-87
Phoenix Suns-Oklahoma City Thunder 124-115
Golden State Warriors-Houston Rockets 116-101
LA Clippers – Sacramento Kings 175-176 (two OTs)
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.