The Sacramento Kings pulled the largest comeback of this NBA season, rallying from an 18-point deficit in the last eight minutes to edge the L.A. Clippers in a dire put-back layup by Willie Cauley-Stein. Only one team had a comeback of that nature in the past 20 years.
But it wasn't just fortune or a really good spark by the Kings (4-12 since All-Star break) that decided it all, but also some internal issues within the Clips that caused them to fall apart in the fourth quarter.
“We saw they started chirping with each other and we were able to see them collapse,” Kings shooting guard Buddy Hield told Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. “When a team collapses, they're in distress and and it's easy when you can catch them slipping. We were able to catch them slipping, we made a few shots and Langston (Galloway's) shot was even big, too.”
The Kings impressively overcame an 18-point deficit to nab the win on Sunday, outscoring L.A. 22-3 in the final five minutes of the game. Hield's big plays were key parts of the win, scoring 11 points in the fourth, including back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to three with just over two minutes remaining.
Teams leading by at least 18 points in the final 5 minutes were 359-0 this season, until today. 😉 #SacramentoProud pic.twitter.com/ZIeS2TnHL6
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 27, 2017
The Clippers have been rumored to have still some underlying animosity with coach Doc Rivers for favoring his son, Austin, over the likes of J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford.
Rivers got the start on Sunday for an injured Redick and shot 4-of-13 from the floor, scoring 10 points.
“It's a bad loss, probably the worst one in the regular season in my career,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul told Jones. “It's tough. That was a bad one. That was a bad loss.”
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