Wade's 31 points power Bulls' win at Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Dwyane Wade scored 31 points, and his baseline jumper with a defender draped on him with 13 seconds lifted the Chicago Bulls over the Sacramento Kings 112-107 on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center.
Wade scored Chicago's final five points to help the Bulls hold off a furious Kings rally from a 27-point, second-half deficit. Chicago (26-26) won for the third time in four games.
The 14-year veteran's winning shot came after Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins failed to complete a three-point play after converting a layup and getting fouled with 30 seconds left.
Wade then stole Matt Barnes' ensuing inbounds pass from half-court after a Sacramento timeout and made a layup. Cousins missed a 3-point attempt at the other end, then received his second technical foul after complaining that a foul wasn't called, and Wade knocked down a free throw to end the scoring.
Michael Carter-Williams finished with 21 points, and Robin Lopez added 17 for Chicago. The Bulls' starters outscored Sacramento's starters 95-49.
Cousins finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. The two technical fouls gave him an NBA-leading 16. He earned a one-game suspension for the Kings' Wednesday contest against the Boston Celtics, an automatic punishment for reaching 16 T's on the season.
Sacramento trailed 82-55 after Chicago's Jerian Grant hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:13 left in the third quarter. However, Cousins' 3-pointer on the next possession started a 14-3 Sacramento run that closed the quarter to give the home team a glimmer of hope.
The Kings were looking to build off an overtime victory over the league-leading champion Golden State Warriors on Saturday, but they scored only 11 points in their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season and dug themselves a 16-point hole after the first 12 minutes.
Sacramento also had a terrible start to the second half, allowing the first six points and getting blitzed 22-10 en route to the 27-point deficit.
Ty Lawson scored 22 points off the bench for Sacramento, and Matt Barnes added 19. Sacramento's reserves outscored Chicago's 58-17.
The Bulls failed to score at least 115 points for the first time in four contests. Their three-game run scoring at least that many marked their longest stretch since April 2006.
NOTES: G Jimmy Butler participated in part of the Bulls' pregame shootaround but missed his second straight game because of the bruised right heel. He told reporters that he still has pain in his heel. He will be evaluated Tuesday and is questionable for Wednesday's game at Golden State. ... Kings GM Vlade Divac told ESPN on Monday that the team does not plan to trade F DeMarcus Cousins before the deadline. ... The Bulls play three contests in six days to conclude their second six-game trip of the season, then have only three more trips of more than one game the rest of the way. ... Cousins played his 466th game as a member of the Kings, tying him with former assistant coach Corliss Williamson for fifth on Sacramento's all-time list. Next on the list is Mike Bibby (476).