Sacramento Kings react after losing to Clippers on Kawhi Leonard’s overtime buzzer-beater
The Kings couldn’t hide their disappointment after a late fourth-quarter lead disintegrated into an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Kings led by seven with 2:19 to go in regulation. James Harden hit a floater with 11.9 seconds left to force overtime and Kawhi Leonard made a left-handed hook shot at the buzzer to give the Clippers a 111-110 victory Sunday evening at Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
The loss was a big blow for the Kings, who played well without two starters but ultimately squandered an opportunity to move ahead of the Clippers for seventh in the Western Conference playoff race.
“If (Leonard) misses that shot, the feel of everything is completely different,” Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said. “He made a tough shot, left hand. We gave ourselves a chance. You just shake his hand. He hit a tough shot.”
Harden had 29 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists for the Clippers (35-29), who survived 14 ties and 23 lead changes to move 1 ½ games ahead of the Kings for seventh in the West.
Ivica Zubac had 22 points and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles. Leonard and Derrick Jones Jr. scored 17 points apiece.
DeMar DeRozan had 31 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists for the Kings (33-30), who will play the New York Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back Monday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Zach LaVine scored 30 points, going 12 of 22 from the field but just 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Keegan Murray added 15 points. Jonas Valanciunas had nine points, 17 rebounds and seven assists.
The Kings are now 2 ½ games behind the Golden State Warriors for the No. 6 seed in the West. They are two games ahead of the No. 10 Dallas Mavericks and 3 ½ games ahead of the Phoenix Suns for the final play-in spot.
“Every game matters for us and it’s very tight standings, especially from six to 10,” Valanciunas said. “You know every game matters and we’ve got to take as much as we can.”
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie was pleased with the way his team defended Harden and Leonard, who combined to go 17 of 38 from the field and 4 of 18 from 3-point range.
“I thought the guys were locked into the game plan,” Christie said. “I thought they did a good job. I thought Zubac got away from the us in the pocket a few times and it took us a second to adjust to that, but all in all the byproduct of playing hard like that is ultimately going to be winning.
“We want to win every game, so that just sucks. It hurts and you’ve got to deal with the pain that our league brings, but defensively I thought there were some fantastic efforts out there and we’ll continue to build off that.”
Both teams were missing key players due to injuries. Malik Monk (right toe sprain) and Domantas Sabonis (left hamstring strain) were still out of the lineup for Sacramento. Clippers scoring leader Norman Powell was out with a right hamstring strain and Ben Simmons was out due to left knee injury management.
In addition, the Clippers announced shortly before tipoff that coach Tyronn Lue went home due to back pain. Assistant Brian Shaw served as acting head coach for Los Angeles.
The Kings led 23-20 after playing outstanding defense in the first quarter. They shot 45.5% from the field while holding the Clippers to 35.3% with Harden and Leonard combining to go 2 of 8.
The Clippers flipped the script in the second period, shooting 61.9% while holding the Kings to 38.1%. Harden and Leonard combined for go 6 of 12, helping Los Angeles take a 51-49 lead into the halftime break.
The Clippers went up by nine on a 3-pointer by Harden less than three minutes into the second half, prompting Christie to call a timeout. The Kings responded with a 10-0 run to take a 64-63 lead on a stepback jumper by Murray.
Sacramento led 75-72 at the end of the third quarter. Los Angeles went up 79-75 early in the fourth. The Kings took a seven-point lead on a corner 3 by Murray with 2:19 to go, but a three-point play by Leonard, a dunk by Zubac and Harden’s floater sent the game to overtime.
The Kings have won five of seven going into Monday’s game against the Knicks. Their only setbacks over that stretch were a six-point loss to the Denver Nuggets and Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to the Clippers, both with Monk and Sabonis out of the lineup.
“We know that we’re trending in the right direction,” Kings guard Keon Ellis said. “Some nights you’ll get the nod, the call, whatever it is, and some nights it will be tough losses like this, but we know we’re trending in the right direction.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM.
