The Kings And Clippers Delivered An Instant Classic In The Second Highest Scoring NBA Game Ever

Late on a Friday night, the Kings defeated the Clippers in a double overtime thriller that etched their place in the NBA record books. The game ended 176-175, which is the second highest scoring total in NBA history finishing behind a Pistons-Nuggets game in 1983 that finished 186-184. This was a pivotal playoff seeding game for both teams as the Kings entered the contest in third place, while the Clippers sat in fourth in the Western Conference.

The marquee players rose to the occasion in this shot-making classic. Kawhi Leonard tallied 44 points on 16-for-22 shooting only to be outdone by Malik Monk, who scored a career-high 45 points on 15-for-24 from the field.

In a game with 351 combined points, the box score was a field day for opportunities. Both the Kings and Clippers had seven of their players score in double digits. Los Angeles repeatedly took control of the game from in the second half and overtime periods with a flurry of scoring runs, but each time the Kings faced a deficit exceeding eight points, they made a run to close the gap to one possession. De’Aaron Fox played a key role down the stretch, scoring 42 points and creating all the clutch offense for the Kings in both the fourth quarter and the overtime periods.

This should have been a wonderful debut for Russell Westbrook in a Clippers uniform. He finished with 17 points and 14 assists on 7-for-13 shooting while scoring a basket to put the Clippers up by three points with just six seconds to go. However, the Kings drew up a beautiful play that allowed Fox to go baseline and kick a pass to Monk for a game-tying three that sent the game to overtime.

This was one of the most electrifying finishes to an NBA game in the last few years and that it was powered by this plucky Kings team made it all the more exciting. Fox and Monk both scoring over 40 points displayed why the duo were so coveted coming out of Kentucky in 2017. For those who did not believe in the Kings and the power of the beam, this performance was an altar call. Let’s hope these teams meet again in the playoffs.