NBA Recap: Sacramento Kings thrash the Los Angeles Clippers, 105-99
Marcus Thornton scored the game high 29 points, four rebounds, and two assists, helping Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-99 on Monday night in front of packed crowd of 17,317 at ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California.
This was the second largest crowd in this season at ARCO Arena.
Thornton’s’ breathtaking last twelve minutes exposed the Clippers’ poor defense as he gathered total 16 of his 29 points in the final quarter. Though Clippers’ Blake Griffin scored 27 points, with 12 rebounds and four assists even
he could not stop his teams’ fifth consecutive loss.
Kings’ coach Paul Westphal said on his teams’ victory “We were running plays for him he doesn't even know, but the guys on the floor, Beno in particular, figured out how we could get him the ball and they just improvised a little
bit, and Marcus delivered”.
He further said on Thornton’s brilliant performance, "Marcus Thornton is fitting in pretty well. We were running plays for him that we didn't even have."
Kings’ first five starters include, Jason Thompson, Omri Casspi, Samuel Dalembert, Beno Udrih, and Jermaine Taylor, while Clippers’ starting rooster included, Ryan Gomes, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Mo Williams, and Randy Foye.
Kings’ Casspi scored 15 points, with seven rebounds while Beno Udrih added 19 points with five rebounds and seven assists. Jason Thompson played his part too scoring 12 points in Kings’ victory.
The first quarter ended with a score of 29-29. Clippers finished the second quarter with a 52-51 lead over the kings. This lead ballooned to five points at the end of the third quarter, 83-78.
Clippers’ Randy Foye scored 23 points three rebounds and four assists, Mo Williams added 16, and Chris Kamen scored 12 points.
But the architect of final showdown was Kings’ Marcus Thornton, who single handedly outplayed Clippers after coming off the bench. He scored back to back points and took the game away from Kings with 105-99.
Thornton said on his performance, “They got me the ball in spots where I can be effective. This is a young team that likes to have fun. It's been easy for me to get acclimated real fast”.
Mike Callahan, Derek Richardson, and Sean Wright officiated the match.
Sacramento Kings currently holds the 14th position in the Western Conference with 43 loses and only 14 wins.
Kings’ next fixture is against Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday and Clippers will be facing Houston Rockets on the same day.
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