By Charlie O. Mallonee @ESPN1320
The Sacramento Kings (22-33) opened the final third of the NBA season on Thursday night by winning their fourth consecutive game at home by downing the Memphis Grizzlies 129-125. With nine minutes remaining in the game, the Kings held a 14-point lead, and it appeared that they would coast to the victory. However, the Grizzlies (28-27) who currently hold the number eight spot in the Western Conference standings had other ideas.
Twice in the final three minutes, Memphis cut the Sacramento lead to just one point. The Kings behind two key buckets from De’Aaron Fox and excellent free throw shooting by Buddy Hield were able to pull the game out of the fire to secure the win.
After the game, Luke Walton pointed out that most NBA games become very competitive with six minutes to go in the game.
Harrison Barnes
Barnes was the leading scorer in the game with 32 points. He shot 11-for-17 overall from the floor and hit 7-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc.
De’Aaron Fox
Fox put 26 points in the book to go with four assists. Fox was hot from 3-point land hitting 4-of-6 attempts.
Buddy Hield
The recently crowned 3-point shooting champion of the NBA All-Star Weekend scored 20 points versus the Grizzlies. His key contribution was converting 8 of 8 opportunities from the free throw.
Harry Giles III
H20 score only 3 points, but his real contribution came on defense. He was major presence on the defensive end in the final minutes of the game. Giles had the crowd screaming with pleasure watching his hustle and tenacious play.
Up next
The Kings now head out on four-game road trip that begins on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles versus the Clippers.