Buzzer Beater: Bjelica drains last-second 3-pointer to beat one of the West’s best

Nemanja Bjelica wasn’t having it.

With 1 second remaining against the Houston Rockets on Monday night, the Kings big man took an inbounds pass, turned and coolly drained a 3-pointer from about 30 feet out. The shot gave the Kings a crazy 119-118 win over one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

Russell Westbrook seemed to land the knockout blow on the play before Bjelica’s dramatic 3-pointer. With 8.4 seconds left, Westbrook took an inbounds pass and traveled the length of the floor, charging into the lane for a layup in front of several Sacramento defenders. That bucket gave Houston a 118-116 lead.

Westbrook’s effort came just immediately after Buddy Hield fell into the first row after hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game 116.

The entire second half was like that, with neither team leading by more than three points in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t quite an offensive free-for-all. Six Kings players had 13 or more points, but none more than Buddy Hield, who finished with 26. The Kings shot a respectable 45.5 percent from the floor but hoisted 45 3-pointers, making 20.

The Rockets, of course, had more 3-point attempts. Houston went 17-for-50 on 3-point shooting as the Kings defense flustered Houston’s James Harden, who finished with 27 points, 11 less than his season average.

Sacramento’s biggest problem might have been controlling Houston center Clint Capela, who racked up 17 rebounds while P.J. Tucker had 19 rebounds to give the Rockets second chances and prevent Sacramento from getting second looks.

Hield had his eighth-straight game with 20 or more points, which is the longest streak of his career. It’s also the longest streak by a Kings player since DeMarcus Cousins scored 20 or more in 10 games from Dec. 12, 2016 to Jan. 18, 2017.

The Kings withstood a barrage from the Rockets in the second quarter to trail by a reasonable five points at halftime. Houston shot 19 3-pointers in the second quarter, connecting on eight of them, as the Rockets built a 64-59 lead.

The Kings shut down Harden in the first half. The problem is Houston has plenty of other weapons. Harden had just 12 points in the first half. He came into the game averaging 38.5 points a night. Harden leads the league with 14.6 free-throw attempts per game. He had just two in the first half.

In his place, Ben McLemore had nine points in the first half, Gary Clark had 11 and Westbrook had 16.

Bjelica’s big night

NBA teams don’t hand out game balls but Nemanja Bjelica would likely have one for his performance in Sunday’s upset of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Kings big man went 13-for-18 from the floor for 30 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. When he came out of the game halfway through the fourth quarter, Sacramento’s offense went cold, scoring just two points in five minutes. When Bjelica finally came back with less than a minute to go, he freed himself under the Kings’ bucket and put in an easy layup to seal the Kings’ 110-106 win.

Coach Luke Walton said “sometimes you trust your gut,” so he put Richaun Holmes on the floor for his defensive abilities in case Dallas made a run. At the end, Holmes hauled in a dangerous loose ball in front of the Mavericks’ rim for a rebound with 4.4 seconds left to give the Kings possession. Then Bjelica came in to seal it.

Walton not a fan of coaches’ challenges

Walton is a little more old-school than his age, 39, implies. He preaches tough defense and making things difficult for the opposition. He talks more about sweat equity than analytics.

It tracks, then, that he’s not wild about the NBA’s new challenges. If Walton disagrees with an official’s call, he can challenge the call and force a play into video review once a game.

Not that he thinks much about it.

“I try to save it ‘til the end of the game where I might need to use one. But sometimes I get a little angry and throw it out there beforehand,” Walton said Monday before the Kings faced the Rockets. “But I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that as a coach as opposed to the game planning and the things you need to do.”

Walton was then asked if he liked the challenges. He all but rolled his eyes.

“Let’s keep it going, the refs are trying to do their best. If they miss it, they miss it,” he said. “There’s calls on both sides, let’s keep it going.”

Kings upcoming schedule

Dec. 11 vs. Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Dec. 13 vs. New York Knicks, 7 p.m.

Dec. 15 at Golden State Warriors, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Charlotte Hornets, 4 p.m.

Dec. 20 at Indiana Pacers, 4 p.m.

This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 7:35 PM.