Sacramento Kings edge out New Orleans Hornets 99 – 98 in nail biter – NBA-Recap
On Wednesday night the Sacramento Kings sneaked pass the visiting New Orleans Hornets, 99-98 here at the Power Balance Pavilion.
Kings had 6 players in double figures, led by Marcus Thornton with 25 points while Tyreke Evans netted 13. The night however belonged to John Salmons who netted the decisive layup after receiving a pass from Isaiah Thomas with
only 6.8 seconds in hand to help his team bank their 13th win of season.
"Credit Isaiah. He made the steal and threw it over Jarrett Jack's head," said Salmons, who recorded 12 points. "It was a fairly open layup, but I needed to concentrate and make sure that I made the basket."
Jason Thompson and Isiah Thomas collected 12 apiece. Rookie Jimmer Fredette chipped in with 11 points coming off the bench as the Kings snapped a 4 game losing streak.
For the Hornets, Jarrett Jack tallied a team high 25 and Trevor Ariza recorded 20 points. Chris Kaman barely missed a triple-double with 18 points, 11 boards and handed a career high 8 assists in Hornets 30th loss of
this season.
Hornets shot much better 91.7% from the charity stripe and 54.5% from the floor as compared to Sacramento’s 65.2% and 50% respectively. They lost the closely contested game in last seconds of the decisive frame after displaying
a resilient show.
Deep through the opening frame, Sacramento were leading by 21-18 but the Hornets managed to reduce the gap to 29-27 by the end of period. The scenario didn’t change much in the 2nd stanza and with 03:32 in hand for
the first half, the scores were tied at 44 apiece. After some seesaw action though, the Kings managed to cap off the segment with a 58-54 lead.
After the halftime, the hosts could only stretch their lead to 63-56, before the away side clawed it off by reeling an 11-0 run. With this run they switched places and claimed a 67-63 lead midway through the 3rd.
The rest of the quarter witnessed fewer successful shots but Hornets managed to proceed into the last frame with a fragile 80-78 advantage.
New Orleans opened the last frame with 4 unanswered points and created a breathing space at 84-78. However Kings slashed that off by 7-0 run and took an 85-84 advantage.
The same close pattern followed in the ensuing passage and it all came down to the last 1minute and 29 seconds of the game with scores tied at 95.
Trevor Ariza netted one from down town and pushed Hornets ahead with 98-95 lead but after a jumper from Thornton Kings inched back with 98-97.
The drama unfolded as Thomas made a steal from Trevor Ariza and passed the ball to John Salmons who was running towards the paint and he chipped in with a layup coring the decisive 99-98 point.
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