Coach Doug Christie promises to fans, and haters, that he will 'figure things out' with the Sacramento Kings. By Stats Perform Video via VideoElephant
The Sacramento Kings would not quit.
Not this time.
The Kings came back from a big fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime, winning 117-112 before a boisterous crowd of 16,957 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Kings were booed off their homecourt following a 33-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks in their last home game on Nov. 12. This was a much different scene as fans roared with approval while the team produced its most inspired effort of the season.
“Hell of a start to the season,” Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said. “A lot of frustration, losing, kind of getting embarrassed at home, on the road. It was on us to shift that energy. That’s all it is. Just pride. Everybody sticking together through tough times.”
The Kings trailed by 12 when they burned their final timeout on a successful coach’s challenge with 8:34 to play in the fourth quarter, but they stormed back to send the game to overtime.
DeRozan scored 33 points for the Kings (5-13), who have won consecutive games for the first time this season after beating the Denver Nuggets on Saturday to snap an eight-game losing streak. DeRozan passed Alex English for 24th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Keegan Murray, appearing in just his third game of the season after recovering from thumb surgery, had 26 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for Sacramento.
Malik Monk came off the bench to score 22 points. Precious Achiuwa added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Anthony Edwards scored 43 points for the Timberwolves (10-7). Julius Randle had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Donte DiVincenzo also scored 17 points while Naz Reid came off the bench to score 15.
Fans proudly chanted “SAC-RA-MENTO” and “Light the Beam” despite the team’s early struggles this season.
“It was a long eight games,” Murray said. “I think we hadn’t won it like two weeks or something like that, so the fact that we were 4-13 and we had a crowd like that just shows how special Sacramento is.”
Halftime report
The Kings struggled early, scoring only two points on 1-of-8 shooting with four turnovers over the first 5:50. Fortunately for Sacramento, the Timberwolves weren’t much better, going 4 of 12 from the field and 1 of 6 from 3-point range to start the game.
Dennis Schroder and Monk came off the bench to provide a spark for Sacramento. The Kings came back to cut a seven-point deficit to one before Reid hit a 3-pointer to put the Timberwolves up 27-23 at the end of the first quarter.
The Kings trailed by two following a 3-pointer by Zach LaVine with 8:05 to play in the second quarter, but the Timberwolves responded with an 8-0 run to take a 42-32 lead. Minnesota led by as many as 14 before carrying a 54-46 advantage into the halftime break.
Edwards led all scorers with 17 points in the first half. Murray had 14 for Sacramento. The Timberwolves shot 44.4% from the field while holding the Kings to 41.5%. Minnesota outrebounded Sacramento 27-19 while outscoring the Kings 26-20 on points in the paint.
Second-half summary
The Kings got within three on a rare dunk by DeRozan early in the second half. The Timberwolves went up 76-65 on a 3-pointer by Edwards with 3:09 to play in the third quarter. They led 82-77 going into the fourth.
Minnesota opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 91-79 lead on a 3-pointer by Mike Conley, but unlike other nights, the Kings wouldn’t quit. They fought back to get within eight on a basket by Murray, cut the deficit to six on an acrobatic driving layup by Monk and pulled within five on two free throws by Murray.
The Timberwolves appeared to have the game in hand after Edwards converted a three-point play to put Minnesota up 99-89 with 3:04 to go, but the Kings would not quit. They cut the deficit to three on an emphatic dunk by Monk and tied the game twice in the final 1:29, first on a three-point play by DeRozan and again on two free throws by DeRozan.
Overtime
DeRozan hit a midrange jumper to put the Kings up 103-101 at the start of overtime. The Timberwolves only trailed by one following a dunk by Edwards with 21.9 seconds remaining, but DeRozan went 5 of 5 at the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.