NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION Kings’ comeback falls short in loss to Bulls
The Kings tried to do it again, but this time their comeback came up short in a 113-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at Golden 1 Center.
Zach Lavine scored 28 points for the Bulls (7-14), who had lost three in a row and seven of their last nine. Lauri Markkanen had 20 points and seven rebounds.
Buddy Hield scored 26 points to lead the Kings (8-11), who overcame a 17-point deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. Richaun Holmes finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Nemanja Bjelica had 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Kings got off to a great start, making seven of their first 10 field-goal attempts while holding the Bulls to 3-of-9 shooting. Sacramento led by as many as 11 in the opening period after outscoring Chicago 2312 over the first nine minutes, but the Kings fell apart when coach Luke Walton went to his bench late in the first quarter.
The Bulls staged a 24-4 run to take a 36-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Coby White with 7:46 to play in the second quarter. They went up 47-31 on a dunk by Kris Dunn and led 55-44 at the half.
Lavine made a driving layup and sank two 3-pointers early in the second half as the Bulls
extended their lead to 19 with 8:18 remaining in the third period. The Kings made a number of runs to cut the deficit to
single digits when Hield came up with a steal and a breakaway dunk with 8 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, cutting Chicago’s lead to 92-83.
The Kings got within six on a 3-pointer by Bjelica with 7:03
remaining. Harrison Barnes made a baseline jumper to cut the deficit to two with 3:18 remaining, but a big 3-pointer by Lavine with 1:15 to play helped Chicago hold on for the win.