Programming note: Watch the re-air of the Kings’ victory over the Utah Jazz from Nov. 1, 2019 tonight at 3 PT on NBC Sports California.
NBC Sports California is bringing fans some of the best games from the last few seasons in their re-airing of instant classics. With the NBA season on hold, it's the closest thing fans can get to watching live action.
In our 10th installment, we go back to the Kings' first win of the 2019-20 season when they snapped a five-game losing streak to open the season with an upset victory over the Utah Jazz.
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While we know the final outcome, sometimes the nuances of the win are lost with time. Here are five things to watch from the Kings’ 102-101 win over the Jazz at Golden 1 Center.
The winner
With 6.5 seconds remaining, Nemanja Bjelica fielded a pass from a cutting De’Aaron Fox and lined up a clean look from the corner. The ball caught iron, but Harrison Barnes crashed the glass, read the spin and was there for the putback with two seconds remaining on the clock to give Sacramento the one-point advantage.
The Kings held on the defensive end to come away with an improbable victory over a very good Jazz team. Barnes finished with a modest 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, but his shot got the Kings in the win column for the first time during the 2019-20 season.
“I’ve had a few game-winners throughout my career, whether it’s been high school, college, pro,” Barnes told NBC Sports California. “I don’t know the exact numbers, but hopefully either the rest of this season or next season, I can build on that.”
Fox shines
This is Fox’s team and he started to show it early in the season. Against fellow 2017 draftee Donovan Mitchell, Fox came out in attack mode, scoring 11 points in the first quarter.
Fox continued to dominate the action throughout the game, finishing with a game-high 25 points.
Fox shot 8-of-17 from the field and went to the free throw line for 12 of the Kings’ 17 attempts on the night.
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Buddy struggles from deep
Buddy Hield has become one of the most reliable 3-point shooters in the NBA throughout his three-plus seasons. Against the Jazz, he went cold from the perimeter, but made adjustments to his game.
Hield missed all five of his 3-point attempts, but he still managed to score 18 points on 9-of-16 shooting. This was the only time through the Kings’ first 64 games that Hield failed to register a made triple.
Holmes gets comfortable
In just his second start of the season, Richaun Holmes began to settle in with the first team. He and Bjelica instantly found chemistry which led to multiple highlight reel alley-oops.
The Kings invested heavily in Dewayne Dedmon during the summer. Holmes not only stole his job, but made Dedmon completely expendable.
This wasn’t one of his best performances, but Holmes held his own against Rudy Gobert and he came up huge on the defensive end on the final sequence.
NBA
Controversy
Following the shot by Barnes, the Jazz had one more opportunity to win the game. With two seconds remaining, Mike Conley tossed the inbounds pass to Mitchell who played off a Gobert screen.
Holmes took Mitchell on the switch and gave the guard a small bump. Mitchell continued his dribble, hit Homes with a pump fake and hoisted a 23-footer that came up short.
Following the game, Mitchell claimed that he was fouled on the final possession and should have gone to the line with a chance to win the game.
The following day, the NBA sided with the Kings on the Two Minute report, stating, “Holmes (SAC) makes marginal contact with Mitchell (UTA) that does not affect his SQBR (Speed, Quickness, Balance, Rhythm).”