Buzzer Beater: Kings’ comeback falls short this time in 113-106 loss to Chicago Bulls
The Cardiac Kings tried to do it again, but this time their comeback came up short in a 113-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at Golden 1 Center.
Zach LaVine scored 28 points for the Bulls (7-14), who had lost three in a row and seven of their last nine. Lauri Markkanen had 20 points and seven rebounds.
Buddy Hield scored 26 points to lead the Kings (8-11), who overcame a 17-point deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Richaun Holmes finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had 18 points and eight rebounds.
“We took them lightly,” Hield said. “We didn’t respect them enough. … You can’t take teams lightly. This is a game we should have won.”
The Kings got off to a great start, making seven of their first 10 field-goal attempts while holding the Bulls to 3-of-9 shooting. Sacramento led by as many as 11 in the opening period after outscoring Chicago 23-12 over the first nine minutes, but the Kings fell apart when coach Luke Walton went to his bench late in the first quarter.
The Bulls staged a 24-4 run to take a 36-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Coby White with 7:46 to play in the second quarter. They went up 47-31 on a dunk by Kris Dunn and led 55-44 at the half.
LaVine made a driving layup and sank two 3-pointers early in the second half as the Bulls extended their lead to 19 with 8:18 remaining in the third period. The Kings made a number of runs to cut the deficit to single digits when Hield came up with a steal and a breakaway dunk with 8 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, cutting Chicago’s lead to 92-83.
The Kings got within six on a 3-pointer by Bjelica with 7:03 remaining. Harrison Barnes made a baseline jumper to cut the deficit to two with 3:18 remaining, but a big 3-pointer by LaVine with 1:15 to play helped Chicago hold on for the win.
“Well, that’s why we continue to preach about playing 48 (minutes,” Walton said. “I thought we did a nice job starting the game. We were ready to go, won three of the four quarters, but not well enough to win a game, and we didn’t do enough.”
Ariza returns
Kings forward Trevor Ariza returned after missing the previous six games, but he was ineffective in limited minutes off the bench.
Ariza was already nursing a sore right groin when he left the team for personal reasons while the Kings traveled east for a four-game road trip. He rejoined the team late last week and logged minutes Monday for the first time since Nov. 17.
Ariza went scoreless in six minutes in the first half, going 0 of 3 from the field and 0 of 2 from 3-point range. He returned to play six more minutes in the fourth quarter, finishing with two points on a pair of free throws.
Zach Attack
LaVine has been putting up big numbers for the Bulls. He scored a career-high 49 points against the Charlotte Hornets on Nov. 23, three days after being held to five points on 2-of-11 shooting against the Detroit Pistons. LaVine made 17 of 28 field-goal attempts and 13 of 17 from 3-point range against the Hornets, tying Stephen Curry for the second-most 3s in a game in NBA history.
LaVine scored 36 points against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and 28 against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. He made 5 of 11 from 3-point range against the Blazers, but only 8 of 24 overall.
The Kings signed LaVine to a four-year, $78 million offer sheet when he became a restricted free agent in July 2018, but the Bulls matched the offer to keep him in Chicago.
On the road again
The Kings are in the midst of a stretch in which they will play 12 of 16 on the road. After going 1-3 on their recent four-game East Coast trip, they now embark on another four-game trip to play the Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets.
The Kings will return to Sacramento to play the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks before going on the road again to play the Golden State Warriors, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers and Memphis Grizzlies. When that stretch is over, the Kings will play 10 of 12 at home from Dec. 23-Jan. 15.
Kings upcoming schedule
Dec. 4 at Portland Trail Blazers, 7 p.m.
Dec. 6 at San Antonio Spurs, 5:30 p.m.
Dec. 8 at Dallas Mavericks, 4 p.m.
Dec. 9 at Houston Rockets, 5 p.m.
Dec. 11 vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.
Injury report
Bulls: OUT — Cristiano Felicio (wrist), Otto Porter Jr. (foot), Chandler Hutchison (shoulder).
Kings: OUT — Marvin Bagley III (thumb), De’Aaron Fox (ankle).
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 9:26 PM.
