Los Angeles Clippers vs Sacramento Kings Match Player Stats On Nov 25, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 26, 2017

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Blake Griffin scored a season-high 33 points, the last two on a jumper from the wing off the dribble with 3.2 seconds remaining to lift the Los Angeles Clippers to a 97-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday at Golden 1 Center.

Griffin took control of the ball at the top of the arc from Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein, drove the left side and pulled up at the wing for a high-arching shot.

Buddy Hield scored a season-best 27 points to lead Sacramento, including eight during a 10-0 run that forged a 95-95 tie with 14.8 seconds remaining. But his running left-hander from just inside the arc didn't draw iron as time expired.

Griffin and Clippers teammate Lou Williams each outscored the Kings by themselves in the decisive third quarter. Williams finished with 16 points, and along with Griffin scored 12 points in the 29-10 blitz that erased an 18-point second-half deficit.

The Clippers (7-11) made 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range to start the second half, with Williams nailing all four of his attempts, and Los Angeles won for the 10th straight time in Sacramento and for the second straight time overall after a nine-game losing streak.

Wesley Johnson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner in the fourth quarter to help the Clippers withstand a late spurt by the Kings and finished with eight points. Austin Rivers added 14 points.

Hield made 5 of 7 3-pointers, including two in a row to draw the Kings into the 95-95 tie. But Sacramento (5-14) lost for the third time in their past four.

Zach Randolph added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Kings, George Hill scored 10 and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 10 off the bench but committed five of Sacramento's 18 turnovers.

The Kings rode blistering 58.5 percent shooting from the floor, including 7-for-10 from 3-point range, to a 61-47 halftime lead. Skal Labissiere's long jumper and Hill's mid-range floater on Sacramento's first two possessions after halftime pushed the lead to 65-47.

Williams then made 3's on the Clippers' next three possessions, and Los Angeles scored the next 17 points. Sacramento didn't convert a shot from the floor for 6:45, and by the time Bogdanovic ended the drought with a layup, the Clippers were ahead 69-67.

NOTES: The Clippers will play the rest of the season without G Patrick Beverley (arthroscopic surgery performed on his right knee), and without him, they've surrendered 110.5 points per contest and have not held any of their six opponents below 100 points. With Beverley, the Clippers held opponents to 104.3 points -- a mark that includes a 141-point beating the Warriors put on them in October -- and below the century plateau five times. ... Kings TV analyst Jerry Reynolds, 73, who coached 170 games for the Kings in two stints from 1987-90, revealed to the Sacramento Bee earlier this week that he once received a fan letter from cult leader Charles Manson during one of his coaching stints, and that it "shook me up." ... The nine-game losing streak that preceded the Clippers' past two victories marked the longest for the team since a nine-game skid in the 2010-11 season, the last time Los Angeles failed to make the playoffs. ... The Kings will play the second of six home-and-road back-to-backs this season when they face the Golden State Warriors on Monday. They play Milwaukee the following night. Sacramento played eight such back-to-backs last year, going a cumulative 7-9.