SACRAMENTO -- A familiar feeling. After blowing a 28-point lead Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs, the Sacramento Kings stumbled down the stretch again Friday night against the Washington Wizards. Sacramento squandered a 15-point fourth quarter lead as the Wizards forced overtime. In the end, Washington was too much for the home team, coming away with the 130-122 victory to send the Kings to their seventh straight loss.
The high-powered backcourt of the Wizards put on a show. John Wall broke the Kings defense down off the dribble and found open teammates for easy buckets. The All-Star point guard finished the night with 25 points and 12 assists in the win.
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Bradley Beal found his rhythm in the second half, scoring 28 of his 38 points after the intermission. Beal knocked down 5-for-9 from long range and chipped in 10 rebounds.
Otto Porter hurt Sacramento from the perimeter, scoring 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Newly acquired Bojan Bogdanovic went off for 17 off Scotty Brooks’ bench and veteran big Jason Smith added nine points and six boards.
Welcome to the starting lineup Buddy Hield. Getting his first opportunity with the first unit after coming over from the New Orleans Pelicans, the rookie shooting guard put on a show early, scoring 16 of his 18 points in the first half.
Willie Cauley-Stein hammered home one pick-and-roll dunk after another on his way to 20 points. He added a game-high 13 rebounds while picking up the start at the power forward spot.
NBA
Darren Collison worked well with Cauley-Stein, handing out 10 dimes, many of which came at the rim. The veteran point guard added 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Arron Afflalo started at the small forward spot and managed to score in 18 points on an efficient 6-for-10 shooting.
Ben McLemore got it going after the half, scoring 8 of his 11 points in the third quarter and Anthony Tolliver hit 4-for-5 from the field for 10 points.
Rookie Skal Labissiere continued his strong play, finishing the night with eight points and five rebounds in 14 minutes off Dave Joerger’s bench.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Beal went nuts in second half. The sharpshooting wing is a tough guard for most teams, especially with Wall drawing all of the attention, but he was special in the second half Friday at Golden 1 Center.
TURNING POINT
Sacramento took a 97-82 lead into the fourth, but they couldn’t hold off the charging Wizards. The Kings held their own early in the overtime session, but they couldn't get the stops they needed to come away with the win.
INJURY UPDATE
Rookie Malachi Richardson is out 4-6 weeks with a right hamstring thickness tear, but hopes to return before the season is finished. Rudy Gay is out for the year with a torn left Achilles.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Kings take on the Denver Nuggets Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in the second night of a home-and-home back-to-back.