The Sacramento Kings embittered Russell Westbrook’s debut at the Los Angeles Clippers this Friday and took a crazy and surreal encounter of furious and voracious attacks in both teams, which was resolved after two extra times and which finished with the second highest combined score in NBA history (Clippers 175-Kings 176).
The 351 points between the two teams in this vibrant duel only fell behind the all-time league record still held by the 1983 Detroit Pistons-Denver Nuggets who finished 186-184 after three overtimes (370 points between the two). .
A crazy night with outboard numbers
A former Los Angeles Lakers like Malik Monk dazzled in Sacramento with 45 points and six triples coming off the bench while De’Aaron Fox shined with 42 points and 12 assists. For his part, Kawhi Leonard signed a huge performance with 44 points (with an impressive 16 of 22 shooting and 6 of 9 3-pointers) and Paul George supported him with 34 points (including 5 3-pointers) and 10 rebounds.
The Angelenos achieved a huge 60.2% in field goals and an equally impressive 57.8% in triples (26 of 45) but they crashed with 25 losses against Kings who were not far behind in terms of accuracy (58.6 % effectiveness).
Walking out the back door of the Lakers after a stormy year and a half, Westbrook had his baptism with the neighbors and rivals of those in purple and gold and added 17 points (7 of 13 shooting), 5 rebounds and 14 assists but lost 7 balls.
Shoot and shoot: so who defends?
Clippers (fifth in the West, 33-29) and Kings (third, 34-25) gave an inexhaustible start to the game. Fox and Kevin Huerter unleashed their fire early for the visitors and Domantas Sabonis showed off quality inside while Kawhi and George replicated on the home side. Westbrook started out wanting to please his new fans and more interested in distributing the ball than going for the rim. With a relentless back and forth, the Clippers made an 11-0 run with their second unit, but the Kings reacted with a two plus one from Trey Lyles and Kawhi, fabulous with 13 points and 5 of 5 shooting, closed with a basket on the buzzer a very entertaining first quarter (40-40).
With no word on the defenses on either team, the Clippers continued in the second period with their 3-point idyll to 12 of 21 in the first half. Three straight 3-pointers between Kawhi and George put up a threatening 89-78 when only two minutes of the third quarter had been played. In addition, Sabonis earned his personal fifth after a foul in attack but Mike Brown, who received a technique protesting that decision, decided to continue on the track. The great protagonist of the third period was Kawhi, titanic with 21 points in that quarter alone with an immaculate 8 of 8 shooting from the field (5 of 5 on triples). With Sabonis playing with fire, Fox put the team on his back and Sacramento took advantage of the Clippers’ countless turnovers to reach the outcome with options (117-110).
The nonsense in attack of this game continued to join names: Nico Batum was lethal from the triple and Monk emerged in the second unit of the Kings. The Clippers went on to win by 14 in the fourth quarter, but three consecutive turnovers left the score in a very narrow margin (147-146 with 1.22 left). George got a +3 from free throws but Monk, fascinating with 16 points in the last quarter, forced overtime with a three-pointer with only one second to go (153-153)
And they went to supplementary just…
Monk was thrown and continued to be the protagonist and the Kings, despite Sabonis’s elimination due to fouls, reached the second overtime after George missed the winning shot (164-164). In the second extension it seemed that the Clippers had finally secured the victory (+6 with three minutes to play), but the endless losses condemned them definitively and the Fox-Monk duo, with astonishing serenity in the last stretch, gave it a Historic win for the Kings.
The rest of Friday’s results
Washington Wizards – NY Knicks 109-115
Atlanta Hawks – Cleveland Cavaliers 136-119
Milwaukee Bucks – Miami Heat 128-99
Charlotte Hornets – Minnesota Timberwolves 121-113
Chicago Bulls – Brooklyn Nets 131-87
Phoenix Suns – Oklahoma City Thunder 124-115
Golden State Warriors – Houston Rockets 116-101
LA Clippers – Sacramento Kings 175-176 (two OTs)
