SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Charlotte guard Malik Monk won a 1.4-second three-point game to complete a furious last-minute Hornets rally and give the Sacramento Kings a chance to coach Luke Walton. painful loss’ for his group. .
Sacramento led 123-115 after a blow from Harrison Barnes, but Walton’s team could not close it out. The Kings missed five free throws in the last 69 seconds and lost for the tenth time in 11 games.
“Come to the end of a game, this is where we have to act and put teams out, and we did not do that,” Walton said. ‘Give Charlotte the honor. They hit 3s and made every free throw on the piece. It’s a painful loss for us guys. We did not finish it. ‘
Monk finished with 21 points to help Charlotte come back despite the game without leading scorer Gordon Hayward, who was sidelined with a hand injury. PJ Washington scored a career-high 42 points, and LaMelo Ball added 24 points and a 12-point lead for the Hornets, leaving the entire fourth quarter behind before Monk’s winning game was 127-126.
“It goes back to the term of resilience, of never dropping the sword, never giving in and fighting to the last second,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. ‘They had to miss some free throws to help us, but we have a way. Among men, we found a way to win. Just proud of our group. ‘
Hornets guard Terry Rozier hit a three-pointer and then added three free throws after Barnes was 33.7 seconds left.
After the fifth try in Washington took the lead to 125-124 by 17 seconds, Buddy Hield struck one of the two throws for the Kings.
Monk followed by driving down the court and turning the ball off the backboard with his right hand. He was polluted by Richaun Holmes.
“It was a play for me or PJ,” Monk said. ‘ [Ball] to pass it on to P, and he was like, no. I had to make something happen. ”
Hield, who finished with 30 points, missed a desperate slope from outside midfield as time ran out. Earlier Sunday night, he became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 career three-pointers, in his 350th career game. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors was the previous fastest at 369 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.