Harry Giles Ejected in Kings’ Gritty Win Over the New York Knicks

After dropping three straight, bringing them back to a .500 record amidst a tight playoff race, the Sacramento Kings defeated the 13-win New York Knicks in a slow-paced game featuring a lot of whistles and very little flow. The contest had its fair share of moments, including a De’Aaron Fox windmill dunk and Harry Giles ejection, but the Kings will take the ugly 115-108 win.

Harry Giles receives a flagrant 2 for elbowing Luke Kornet in the head; gets ejected #NewYorkForever #SacramentoProud pic.twitter.com/xcMlcCpG1U

— Sports Gifs & Videos (@Supreme_Gifs) March 5, 2019

Kings head coach Dave Joerger admitted it wasn’t the prettiest game, but he will take the win regardless, “We make mistakes but we play as fast as we can and we make it up and down the floor. You see the points in the game where things get a little stinky for us, but we did a good job (moving) the ball…”.

Sacramento finished with 18 fast break points, building a lead as big as 14 points in the fourth quarter. Buddy Hield led the Kings in scoring with 28 points. He also dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds. Fox, who said he was going to be more aggressive through the final 20 games of the season, scored 16 points on 12 shots.

“A win is a win at this point of the season. We don’t care how we get it,” said Fox, “Everybody needs to be aggressive. Harry (Giles) had a great game tonight…but everybody needs to come out aggressive. You can have an off night, as long as you are aggressive”.

Before his ejection for elbowing Knicks center Luke Kornet in the face, Giles was tearing it up offensively in the fourth quarter. He finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Over his last three games, Giles has scored 50 points off the bench.

Joerger had nothing but praise for Giles following the win, “As an organization and a passionate fanbase that we have, it’s fun to watch the young guys get better and better. He is a good dude. I got on him once and then he had a grown man post up… I love it”.

“Harry has been great. He adds energy off the bench for us. He brings the crowd energy too,” said Harrison Barnes.

Barnes had maybe his best offensive game as a King since being acquired at the trade deadline, scoring 22 points while shooting 50% from three-point range. He also grabbed 10 rebounds, earning his third double-double in nine games with the team.

The Kings end their brief three game homestand on Wednesday as they host the Boston Celtics. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets by a point Monday, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Lakers, so Sacramento didn’t make up any ground on the 7th and 8th seeds in the Western Conference.

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