They say it’s not over until the fat lady sings. In the Kings’ case, the fat lady started humming at one point, but she did not finish her note.
The Los Angeles Clippers, who just clinched a playoff berth two days ago, were up by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, but did not get the job done as the Kings secured a 98-97 victory, snapping a four game losing skid.
Willie Cauley-Stein made the bucket that gave the Kings the lead as time almost expired:
The Clippers made costly mistakes and the Kings capitalized.
“They started tripping each other, and we were able to see them collapse,” Kings rookie Buddy Hield told reporters following the game. “When a team collapses, you know they’re in distress. It’s easy to catch them slipping. I would have thought (the game was over), too, if I was in that situation. But it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
Apart from the tremendous comeback, it took a full team effort to pull off this victory. Remember Georgios Papagiannis? The 19-year-old 7 footer? The one who has been giving the Kings high energy off the bench? Yesterday, he finished with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, making him the Reno Dodge Power Performer.
This is Papagiannis’ second double-digit scoring game over the past five games.
Papagiannis saw that he had Raymond Felton on him and took advantage of the mismatch. Notice how Marreese Speights wanted to go over and help, but he would be leaving a 38 percent shooter from beyond the arc in Ben McLemore open. Papagiannis could’ve given the ball to McLemore, but he made the right decision.
Felton would not have gone for the block, so he tried to go for a steal. Papagiannis clearly realized that and got the ball up high enough where it was away from Felton.
The size and strength of Papagiannis is just enough for him to get a quality shot off. Notice how easily he has control of the ball in his hands? As noted earlier, defenders will attempt to swat the ball away from him, and he should always make sure he knows where they are. These two plays above really show just how good his hands are.
The Kings have not been eliminated from playoff contention as they still sit in the 13th seed with a 27-45 record. Tonight, the Kings will return home to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
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