‘It’s amazing’: Comeback Kings do it again, rally to beat Lakers in game they had to have
Bogdan Bogdanovic was sitting in front of his locker more than an hour before tipoff when he was asked if this was a game the Kings had to win if they have any hope of becoming a playoff team.
Bogdanovic was perfectly comfortable with the question. Maybe that’s why he was so comfortable with the moment.
Bogdanovic said it was a “must-win game” against a shorthanded opponent and then he went out and won it, draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 117-116 on Thursday night at Golden 1 Center.
Trailing by two with 4.3 seconds remaining, the Kings took a timeout so coach Dave Joerger could do what he does best, drawing a play to get his team a basket. Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica inbounded the ball to Bogdanovic near the top of the arc.
Bogdanovic dribbled twice to his right, stepped back to create space and fired over the outstretched arm of Tyson Chandler, a 7-foot-1 center who came out to contest the shot. An announced sellout crowd of 17,583 watched and waited breathlessly as the ball left his fingertips, but Bogdanovic already knew.
“Oh, yeah,” Bogdanovic said, flashing his boyish grin while leaning back in that same chair in front of his locker. “As soon as I released it, I know.”
The Cardiac Kings did it again, rallying to win after trailing by 15 or more for the third time in seven days. The outcome moved the Lakers (20-15) into a tie for fifth place and the Kings (19-16) into a tie for eighth in a tightly grouped Western Conference in which the top 10 teams are separated by four games.
The Kings want to end the NBA’s longest postseason drought after 12 losing seasons. A single game — maybe this one, maybe the one on Sunday when the Kings play the Lakers again in Los Angeles — could determine whether they make the playoffs or not.
“When you get to the end of the season, you might miss it by one or two games and then you look back and say you should have got this game or you should have got that game,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “Every game matters.”
Especially games like this.
The Lakers were not even close to full strength. Four-time MVP LeBron James was sidelined with a strained left groin, four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo sat out with a sprained finger and starting center JaVale McGee was held out due to a respiratory infection.
Still, the Kings found themselves trailing 104-89 with 6:44 to play. It didn’t look good, but one thing that’s been learned is the Kings don’t quit.
“We feel like we’re never out of a game,” Joerger said.
The Kings started getting defensive stops. Willie Cauley-Stein and Fox made baskets. Iman Shumpert and Bogdanovic hit a couple of 3s. By the time Bogdanovic’s layup cut the deficit to one and Justin Jackson’s free throws tied the score, the Lakers were dazed and confused — out on their feet — waiting for someone to deliver the knockout punch.
Bogdanovic was ready for that moment.
He dribbled right, stepped back and fired. His teammates rushed across the court to embrace him. Buddy Hield was clinging to him like a backpack.
“I am lucky person,” Bogdanovic said when it was over. “I have that feeling many, many times and it’s amazing. I cannot describe (to) you. It’s not like on the TV. It’s reality.”
Before the game, Joerger was asked how important it is for a team with fledgling playoff aspirations to seize an opportunity to beat a team missing three of its top seven players. Joerger didn’t seem completely comfortable with the question.
“That’s not something we talk about,” he said.
Maybe they should.
Because the Kings have already let two of these opportunities slip away. On Nov. 24, they suffered a 117-116 loss to a Golden State Warriors squad that was without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The next night, they lost to a Utah Jazz team that was missing Donovan Mitchell.
“We’ve dropped some that we probably shouldn’t have lost,” Fox said. “We almost dropped this one, but we came out with a win.”
The Comeback Kings did it again.