The Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers displayed some offensive fireworks for fans on Friday night as they combined to produce the second-highest scoring NBA game of all time.
The Kings narrowly edged past the Clippers 176-175 in double overtime at Crypto.com Arena thanks to a go-ahead bucket from point guard De’Aaron Fox in the final seconds.
It capped off a wild evening of scoring in California, with the two teams exchanging buckets throughout with little to separate them.
For just the second time in the NBA’s history, both teams scored over 170 points and the 351 combined points puts it second behind the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets’ 186-184 triple overtime game on December 13, 1983, which holds the record for the most points scored.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue called it a “crazy game” with “a lot of momentum shifts,” while Kings coach Mike Brown said the spectators in attendance will have gone home happy.
”From a fan’s standpoint, I can see how this game would have been a lot of fun to watch,” Brown said. ”There was unbelievable shot making and great defense. There was high-level talent that was on display. Kudos to the players.”
Fighting back
It looked as if the new-look Clippers would have been able to wrap up a high-scoring evening in regulation time on Friday, holding a 145-131 lead with just 4:25 left in the fourth quarter.
But a 22-8 run from the Kings – including 10 straight points – forced overtime, with a three-pointer from Malik Monk with just 1.1 seconds remaining leveling the scores.
And yet again in overtime, the Clippers had a slender lead but could not hold on as Sacramento once again came racing back, with Fox’s bucket with 36.5 seconds remaining the final score.
The Clippers had one final opportunity to snatch a win but Nicolas Batum’s three-pointer at the buzzer was off.
Monk top-scored in the game with a career-high 45 points, made even more remarkable as he started on the bench, while Fox added his own 42 points along with 12 assists.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George led the resistance for Los Angeles, with the pair scoring 44 and 34 points respectively.
Friday’s game also marked the Clippers debut of Russell Westbrook, who signed with the team on Wednesday two days after he was waived by the Utah Jazz.
The nine-time All-Star was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Jazz as part of a three-team deal on February 10 following a turbulent 18 months with his hometown team.
And Westbrook – who became just the second players ever to start a game for both the Clippers and the Lakers in the same season since the Clippers moved to LA in 1984-85 – had 17 points, 14 assists and five rebounds to go with seven turnovers.
