Kings climb out of 21-point hole, top Bulls
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 15 points, and the Sacramento Kings rallied from a 21-point, first-half deficit to beat the visiting Chicago Bulls 104-98 on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center.
George Hill scored 14 points for the Kings, Garrett Temple had 12, and Zach Randolph barely missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Sacramento outscored Chicago 63-43 in the second half and snapped a five-game home losing streak.
Zach LaVine scored a season-high 27 points to lead Chicago, which lost its seventh game in a row. Justin Holiday added 20 points, and Bobby Portis finished with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The score was even at 96 when Bogdanovic buried a 3-pointer from the left wing with 52 seconds remaining. LaVine and Portis missed 3-pointers on the next possession. A dunk by Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein made it 101-96 with 14.3 seconds left.
Hill made three of four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.
Sacramento pulled within 79-77 entering the fourth quarter. The Kings outscored the Bulls 36-24 in the third quarter despite losing rookie point guard De'Aaron Fox, who sprained his left ankle and did not return. X-rays on Fox's ankle were negative.
Bulls center Robin Lopez was ejected late in the first half for screaming at officials about what he believed should have been a foul call. Lopez, who is a candidate to be traded this week, threw a chair in the tunnel on his way to the locker room.
The outburst prompted a loud ovation during an otherwise sleepy first half for Kings fans. Sacramento trailed 55-41 at the break, and Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein had only one point to go along with four fouls in the first 24 minutes.
Chicago jumped to a 28-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Kings missed 16 of their first 20 shots.
Bulls rookie forward Lauri Markkanen missed his third game in a row following the birth of his son. Markkanen initially planned to join his teammates for the Monday game, but his flight from Chicago to Sacramento was canceled due to bad weather.
--Field Level Media
