By CAMERON SALERNO The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO — If it’s a Friday night, the Clippers and Sacramento Kings must be staging another thriller.
One week after the teams squared off in the second highest-scoring game in NBA history, Domantas Sabonis made two free throws with seven seconds left to cap a near-triple-double and the Kings held on for a 128-127 victory over the short-handed Clippers.
Paul George missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer for the Clippers, who lost to the Kings, 176-175, in double-overtime last week in Los Angeles and have now lost five consecutive games. George finished with 28 points and hit shots to give his team the lead twice in the final minute.
“We found a way to steal that game,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “We didn’t respond correctly every time and they took advantage of it. … Sabonis and Foxy (De’Aaron Fox), I talked about them making the All-Star Game, they’re doing things that warrant All-NBA talk.”
George hit a 3-pointer to give the Clippers (33-33) a one-point lead with 51.2 seconds left. Sabonis, who had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Kings win their fifth straight game, responded with a layup on the other end. George then made a layup with 33.1 seconds left to take the lead back.
“I thought we did a good job,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said about the offense in the fourth quarter. “Overall, just trying to get the ball in (Paul George’s) hands.”
Russell Westbrook scored 28 points for the Clippers, who played without forward Kawhi Leonard (right knee injury management), forward Marcus Morris Sr. (left elbow contusion) and center Ivica Zubac (calf soreness). Eric Gordon had 21 points, but the Clippers lost their fifth consecutive game.
In a positive development for the Clippers, they only had seven turnovers, after logging 79 in their previous four games.
De’Aaron Fox had 33 points for Sacramento (37-25) – his eighth consecutive 30-point game. Harrison Barnes had 20 points and Kevin Huerter scored 18.
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“It’s great,” Fox said of their season. “It’s a great feeling. It’s great because it’s my first time. This is something we want to make annual. We want to be contending for a title. …it’s great for the city and organization. We still want bigger things for ourselves.”
UP NEXT
The Clippers host Memphis on Sunday at 7 p.m.