Fourth-quarter collapse: Sacramento Kings blow 22-point lead in bad loss to Chicago Bulls
Now more than ever in this NBA era of space, pace and 3-point shooting, basketball is a game of runs.
The Kings staged a series of big runs to build up a 22-point lead in the second half of Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, but once the momentum shifted, they couldn’t stop the running of the Bulls.
Coby White had a career night and DeMar DeRozan dominated the fourth quarter to help the Bulls storm back for a 113-109 victory over the Kings before a sellout crowd of 17,832 at Golden 1 Center.
The Kings were outscored 36-18 in the fourth quarter and 11-1 over the final 2:57 in one of the most stunning collapses in a season that has been defined by inconsistency.
“That shows you how quickly the momentum can swing in an NBA game,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “We were up 22 or something like that and we pick up a (technical foul) and the momentum swings the other way.”
White had a career-high 37 points, five rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls (29-32), who won despite the absences of Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams, all of whom have undergone season-ending surgery. White went 14 of 19 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3-point range.
DeRozan scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, single-handedly outscoring Sacramento. DeRozan finished 10 of 12 from the field, 2 of 3 from 3-point range and 11 of 12 at the free-throw line. Ayo Dosunmu added 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
Nikola Vucevic had 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting with 13 rebounds. Alex Caruso was held to two points on 1-of-10 shooting, but the Bulls still hit 50% from the field.
Chicago shot 68.4% in the fourth quarter, making 13 of 19 field-goal attempts. DeRozan was perfect, going 7 of 7 from the field and 4 of 4 at the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Kings went 6 of 20, shooting just 30%.
“We didn’t make shots, and on the other end, it was nothing that they were doing in particular — a whole lot of one-on-one from DeMar and him creating offense,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “Coby White had a big game as well. On the other end, we have to make the shots that we’re given.”
Fox had 20 points and 10 assists for the Kings (34-26), who fell from sixth to seventh in the Western Conference behind the Phoenix Suns. Sacramento is now just a half-game ahead of the No. 8 Dallas Mavericks, 1 ½ games ahead of the No. 9 Los Angeles Lakers and two games ahead of the No. 10 Golden State Warriors.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 18 points, 21 rebounds and four assists — posting his 43rd consecutive double-double — but he went 7 of 19 from the field with five turnovers and fouled out with 2:57 remaining.
“It’s tough,” Brown said. “Anytime you lose one of your top two players down the stretch of a ballgame, it’s tough, but the reality of it is him fouling out at that point didn’t cost us the game. We had a few self-inflicted wounds throughout the course of the game, and not just in the fourth quarter, not just in the last three minutes.”
The Kings shot just 44.6% from the field and 29.7% from 3-point range. They committed 18 turnovers, allowing the Bulls to amass a 24-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I don’t know what happened there,” Sabonis said. “I think we were still up 20 with three, four minutes left in the third quarter. The game kind of got away from us, and then crunch time, we couldn’t really score. And DeMar DeRozan, Coby White were just going off and we couldn’t get stops.”
The Kings have now lost three of their last four games. They had a players-only meeting following a loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, appeared to be unified in an impressive overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves with Fox out due to injury on Friday and then took another step back with Monday’s loss to the Bulls.
“It’s definitely been a roller coaster for us this year,” Fox said. “We always talk about being consistent. I think in the first quarter, we were excellent. Second quarter, I don’t think we scored the ball well, but we were still in command of this game. We come out and we have a great third quarter, and then we don’t play well in the fourth at all, so we just have to be consistent throughout the game and throughout the entire season.”
Fox returned to the lineup after missing the past two games with a left knee contusion. Initially listed as questionable, Fox was cleared to play about two hours before tipoff.
The Kings didn’t look particularly sharp in the opening minutes, going 3 of 12 and 6 of 15 from the field to start the game. The Bulls made six of their first nine shots, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, but four turnovers prevented them from building on an early four-point lead.
The Bulls led 21-19 following a basket by Vucevic with 3:53 to play in the first period, but then the Kings caught fire. They made 10 of their last 12 shots to end the first quarter with a 17-1 run that put them up 36-22, but the Bulls wouldn’t quit.
Chicago staged a 9-1 run to start the second quarter and followed with subsequent a 9-0 run to take a 44-41 lead on a 3-pointer by White. Again, Sacramento responded, outscoring the Bulls 13-3 over the final 3:01 to take a 56-49 lead into the halftime break.
The Kings seemed to have broken the game open with another big run in the third quarter. They outscored the Bulls 23-9 to start the second half and led by as many as 22 points before carrying a 91-77 lead into the fourth quarter, but, again, the Bulls wouldn’t quit.
Chicago slowly chipped away at Sacramento’s lead. The Bulls got within seven on a basket by Julian Phillips with 5:47 remaining, cut the deficit to three on a 3-pointer by Dosunmu and tied the game on a layup by White with 1:32 to play.
The Bulls went up 111-109 on a driving layup by White with 47.6 seconds to go and clinched the win with two free throws by DeRozan with 3.5 seconds on the clock. Some untimely turnovers, including one from Fox on an inbound pass to Malik Monk with 36 seconds remaining, proved costly for the Kings.
Fox explained that the inbound pass would normally go to Sabonis, but he had fouled out. Fox looked to Harrison Barnes instead, but Barnes was covered by the bigger Vucevic. Fox then looked to Monk, narrowly avoiding a five-second violation, but the pass sailed out of bounds before Monk could get to it.
The outcome was a scary flashback for the Kings, who led by 30 in Chicago on Feb. 3 before the Bulls came back to cut the deficit to three. The Kings held on after Fox scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 41, but this time they weren’t as fortunate.
“We did the same thing against this team earlier this year,” Fox said. “We were up 30 and they came back, so when we have the lead, we know the game isn’t over. They did the exact same thing except they were able to finish this game off today.
“You look at any game and the swings of a game, a lot of times one team ends up with a 15-point lead at some point, and the other team probably has a 10-point lead at some point, so the game swings in a variety of ways. We just have to be able to put a full game together and we have to be better down the stretch.”
Nobody was better down the stretch than DeRozan, who took over after attempting only one shot in the first half.
“A lot of the times, it’s a feel,” DeRozan said. “A lot of times, it’s just me physically and mentally trying to collect data on how they are playing us; try to get guys going and sometimes just getting myself loose and going. Some games I feel it right away and some games you’ve got to kind of ease into it. It’s just me knowing myself. I knew at one point I was going to get it going and I came through when we needed it.”
Ready and able
Brown praised backup point guards Keon Ellis and Davion Mitchell for staying ready to play key roles in Friday’s win over the Timberwolves with Fox out due to injury.
Ellis, who started in place of Fox, had two points, two rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one blocked shot. Mitchell came off the bench to score 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting with two rebounds and two assists.
“They both did a heck of a job for us in Minnesota and they stepped up in a lot of different ways,” Brown said. “It was Keon’s fourth start and we’re 4-0 against some good teams, too. He was just ready to play and you like to see that from a young guy. Same with Davion. We needed another scoring punch and we told him to be aggressive. He’s quick, he’s strong and he’s athletic, and he can score, so we said we need your scoring and he provided it for us as well as defense.”
Iron man
Barnes, a 31-year-old forward in his 12th NBA season, made his 200th consecutive regular-season start for the Kings dating back to the 2021-22 season. Barnes started all 82 games last season. He has not missed a game since Dec. 4, 2021.
Up next
The Kings will face the Lakers on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena before returning to Sacramento to face the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Lakers (33-29) suffered a 124-114 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday before beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-104 on Monday. The Lakers are now ninth in the West, a half-game ahead of the Warriors.
The Kings are 0-2 against the Lakers this season. They suffered a 132-128 overtime loss on Oct. 29 in Sacramento and a 125-110 loss on Nov. 15 in Los Angeles.
Upcoming schedule
March 6 at Los Angeles Lakers
March 7 vs. San Antonio Spurs
March 10 vs. Houston Rockets
March 12 vs. Milwaukee Bucks
March 13 vs. Los Angeles Lakers
