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Hundreds of people packed the plaza outside the grand entrance to Golden 1 Center for a pregame rally two hours before Friday’s home opener against the Utah Jazz.
Thousands more converged on the DoCo corridor with a growing sense of anticipation as game time neared. Zach LaVine, Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis made sure everyone home happy.
LaVine scored 31 points, Monk came off the bench to score 20 and Sabonis made a putback basket with 6.4 seconds remaining to give the Kings a wild 105-104 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,832.
LaVine and Monk whipped the crowd into a frenzy, combining to make 17 of 32 from the field and 10 of 18 from 3-point range as the Kings bounced back from a season-opening loss to the Phoenix Suns.
“It was jumping tonight,” LaVine said. “I think it was really important because we played really well in Phoenix, especially in the first half, and then we let go of that one. It was important to come in here and make sure we got a win.”
Sabonis recorded a double-double for the Kings (1-1), posting 12 points and 12 rebounds after missing the season opener with strained right hamstring. Sabonis returned to the lineup sooner than expected and came up with a crucial offensive rebound before scoring the go-ahead basket.
“I can’t say enough about Domas,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “First of all, he wants to come back. That’s huge. That says a lot about who he is and what he’s about.
“... He looked great. I thought he did a heck of a job. He was aggressive. We missed him on the backboard (against the Suns), and lo and behold he goes in and gets an incredible rebound for us when we desperately needed it.”
Dennis Schroder scored 17 points. LaVine went 10 of 18 from the field and 4 of 9 from 3-point range. Monk went 7 of 14 overall and knocked down 6 of 9 from long
Lauri Markkanen scored 33 points for the Jazz (1-1), which was coming off a surprising win over the Los Angeles Clippers. Keyonte George scored 18 points. Brice Sensabaugh had 15.
Halftime report
Kings coach Doug Christie started a small-ball lineup with rookie Nique Clifford at small forward and DeMar DeRozan at power forward in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Phoenix Suns.
On Friday, Christie moved DeRozan back to small forward with Isaac Jones at power forward to combat the size of Utah’s frontline, which features Kyle Filipowski at 6-foot-11, Markkanen at 7-1 and Walker Kessler at 7-2.
Utah took an early six-point lead while outscoring Sacramento 10-2 on points in the paint over the first eight minutes. The Kings came back to take a 21-20 lead on a three-point play by LaVine and led 31-24 at the end of the first quarter.
Sacramento shot 55% in the opening period while holding Utah to 37.5%. LaVine had the hot hand early, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with two 3-pointers.
The Jazz came back to tie the game on a couple of occasions in the second quarter. The Kings led 49-46 at the halftime break. Utah outrebounded Sacramento 28-20, but the Kings forced 12 turnovers while outshooting the Jazz 42.2% to 38.3%.
Second-half summary
Utah took a 54-51 lead after outscoring the Kings 8-2 to start the second half, prompting Christie to call an early timeout two nights after watching his team blow a 20-point first-half lead against the Suns.
Christie liked how the Kings responded, but he wasn’t happy with the way they started the third quarter.
“I was pleased with the response, but I made a concerted effort at halftime to talk about this,” Christie said. “We have to be a good third quarter team. It has to be one of our tenets, especially in our building. We have to come out with the proper energy and force, especially in that first five minutes.”
The Kings and Jazz traded baskets with both teams shooting better than 57% in a third quarter that featured seven ties and four lead changes. Utah went up 76-75 on a 3-pointer by Sensabaugh with 5.8 seconds to play in the third period. Monk hit a 3 at the buzzer to put Sacramento up 78-76 heading into the fourth.
The Kings found themselves trailing 96-92 following a 3-pointer by Sensabaugh, but LaVine answered with a 3 at the other end to spark a 7-0 run that put Sacramento up 99-96 with 3:19 to play. LaVine then buried a baseline jumper to give the Kings a 103-100 lead with 1:12 to go.
Markkanen made two free throws to put Utah up 104-103 with 28.8 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Sacramento’s final possession. The Kings nearly committed a turnover before Schroder chased down the loose ball in the backcourt.
Schroder passed to Monk, who missed a floater in the lane. Sabonis outworked Markkanen and Kessler for the rebound before scoring the go-ahead basket on a left-handed putback.
Up next
The Kings will be back in action when they play host to Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at Golden 1 Center. LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, is out with sciatica.
The Lakers opened the season with a 119-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.