Kings extend streak with buzzer-beating win over Cavs
FILE – Harrison Barnes #40 of the Sacramento Kings is congratulated by Buddy Hield #24 and Marvin Bagley III #35 after he dunked the ball against the Charlotte Hornets in the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center on February 28, 2021 in Sacramento, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by EZRA SHAW / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
De’Aaron Fox scored 20 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, and Harrison Barnes sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to power the host Sacramento Kings to their fourth straight win in a 100-98 defeat of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Fox, coming off a career-high 44 points in the Kings’ rout of Golden State on Thursday, took over in the fourth quarter with eight of Sacramento’s final 11 points. His efforts helped the Kings erase a five-point deficit in the final 1:11, and gave Sacramento the lead on an and-one with 6.2 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Collin Sexton — who scored a team-high 26 points in his return from a two-game absence due to a hamstring injury — was awarded the points after a lengthy review of Richaun Holmes’ block on Sexton’s layup attempt.
The goaltending call gave Cleveland a 98-97 lead with just 1.6 seconds remaining, and Sacramento had no timeouts to advance the ball. But Fox recorded the last of his six assists with a football-style inbound pass to Barnes on the wing, who turned and fired over two defenders for the game-winning shot.
Barnes’ buzzer-beater completed a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double. Holmes also recorded a double-double for the Kings with 10 points and 14 rebounds. All five Sacramento starters scored in double-figures, with Tyrese Haliburton posting 13 points and Buddy Hield scoring 10.
🚨 Harrison Barnes catches the full court pass and drills the #TissotBuzzerBeater to win it for the @SacramentoKings! #ThisIsYourTime 🚨 pic.twitter.com/3Yc0YkOc9Z
— NBA (@NBA) March 28, 2021
In addition to continuing Sacramento’s winning streak, Barnes’ shot also preserved a streak of consecutive games for the Kings scoring in triple-digits. Their last game with fewer than 100 points came Jan. 20.
Sacramento shot just 2-of-14 from 3-point range in the first half and went 7-of-30 from deep overall. A 44-36 rebounding advantage and 34-of-50 shooting from inside the arc helped the Kings to the win, despite Cleveland’s strong defensive effort and the play of Sexton, who keyed the Cavaliers on both offense and defense.
With 2:58 remaining and Cleveland leading by a point, Sexton made one of his two steals on the night and took it coast-to-coast for a dunk. Darius Garland followed up with two of his 18 points to extend the Cavaliers lead to five points before Sacramento chipped away.
Larry Nance Jr. added 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds, and Dean Wade scored 13 points off the bench as Cleveland took its second loss in as many nights.
