Raining Triples: Kings Use Long Ball To Hold Off Hawks
Nov 8, 2019, 7:17 PM | Updated: 7:23 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Sacramento drains 58-percent of their three-point attempts in win over Atlanta
Like many times in this young season, the Sacramento Kings allowed their opponent to go on a big third-quarter run while facing Atlanta on Friday.
Then, the triples started falling.
Sacramento withstood a comeback attempt by Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks to win by a final of 121-109 on Friday night at State Farm Arena. With the win, the Kings have won three of their last four contests to pull their record to 3-6 on the season.
After taking a 63-47 lead into the half, Hawks star point-guard Trae Young exploded for 16 points in the third-period to pull his squad to within eight heading into the fourth-quarter.
The Hawks would cut the Kings lead to 94-93 with nine minutes remaining before Sacramento responded with a 19-5 run to put Atlanta away for good. The heroes tonight? The bench unit of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Trevor Ariza and Cory Joseph.
While De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield had strong games for Sacramento, head coach Luke Walton opted to stick with his bench unit for the stretch-run in the fourth-quarter. Bogdanovic finished with 20 points on five-of-six from downtown, while also scoring 10 points in the final period.
Bogdanovic has topped the 20-point mark in his last two contests while converting 11 of his last 17 three-point attempts.
Ariza had his best game as a Kings, hitting four-of-six triples for 14 points. The long-time NBA veteran drilled a three to put Sacramento ahead 116-98 with 4:22 remaining, sealing the team’s third win of the year.
Backup guard Cory Joseph had his second-straight game with at least eight points, four rebounds and four assists, finishing with nine points, four rebounds and four assists while shooting 50-percent from the field.
The Kings hit 18-of-31 three-point attempts on Friday night, good enough for a blistering 58-percent.
De’Aaron Fox scored 17 points to go along with four rebounds and nine assists for Sacramento, dishing six of those assists in the first-quarter. Buddy Hield had a strong showing as well, finishing with 22 points, four rebounds and five assists while hitting nine-of-17 shots from the field.
Nemanja Bjelica chipped in with 13 points, hitting three-of-four three-point attempts while Harrison Barnes finished with 16 points.
For Atlanta, Young finished with 30 points and 12 assists while Jabari Parker scored 25 points in the losing effort. With the loss, Atlanta falls to 3-5 on the season.
Giles Sighting
After missing the entirety of summer league, training camp and eight games of the regular season, Harry Giles III made his 2019-20 season debut on Friday night.
Giles looked good in a small-sample size, scoring four points on one-of-two from the field while grabbing a rebounds and blocking a shot.
The 21 year-old was active on defense, delivering an electrifying block shortly after checking in for his first minutes of the season. Giles will look to ease himself into action as the season rolls on, only playing eight minutes in Atlanta as Luke Walton eases him back into action.
This was the sophomore’s first game for Sacramento since the team declined his option for the 2020-21 season back on November 1.
Coming Up
Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers will roll into Sacramento on Tuesday night to face the Kings at Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento dropped their home opener to Portland back on October 25 by a final of 122-112, where Lillard dropped 35 points on a sluggish Kings team. With a win on Tuesday, the Kings could salvage their rough start by posting a 4-6 record over their first 10 contests.
Catch all of the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30pm with tip-off following at 7:00pm.
