Kings beat Clippers on Cauley-Stein's basket
LOS ANGELES -- Willie Cauley-Stein scored on a putback with 1.8 seconds remaining, allowing the Sacramento Kings to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 98-97 at Staples Center on Sunday.
Darren Collison scored 19 points to lead the Kings (28-45), who trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter. Kings rookie guard Buddy Hield, who hit two clutch 3-pointers, and forward Anthony Tolliver each had 15 points. Georgios Papagiannis chipped in 12 points.
DeAndre Jordan collected 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, while Chris Paul had 17 points and nine assists. Blake Griffin added 17 points and six rebounds for Los Angeles.
The loss prevented the Clippers (44-31) from pulling into a tie with the idle Utah Jazz for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Instead, Los Angeles is a game back of the Jazz, who have played two fewer games.
Clippers guard J.J. Redick missed the game with a sprained right ankle sustained in Saturday's win over the Jazz.
The Kings cut the Clippers' lead to 96-93 with 2:10 remaining after back-to-back 3-point jumpers by Hield, forcing Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers to bring back his starters, who had sat almost the entire quarter.
After Griffin made one of two free throws, Langston Galloway nailed a trey to slice the advantage to 97-96 with 1:25 left. Both teams failed to convert possessions before Cauley-Stein scored the game-winner.
Paul missed a contested jumper before the final horn.
The Clippers started slowly but picked up their game late in the second quarter. Los Angeles trailed 40-33 at 4:50 of the second period after a 3-pointer by Toliver, but the Clippers closed with an 11-2 run for a 44-42 halftime lead.
In the third, the Clippers opened with a 15-5 surge for a 57-47 advantage after a 3-pointer by Luc Mbah a Moute with 7:58 remaining in the quarter. By the end of the third, the Clippers, who led by as much as 17, had a 76-65 edge.
NOTES: The Kings rested F Arron Afflalo and C Kosta Koufos. ... Clippers G Jamal Crawford needs nine points to reach 18,000 points. ... Clippers F Paul Pierce, who played 10 scoreless minutes, remains 14 points shy of passing John Havlicek (26,395) for 15th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. ... The Kings host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. ... The Clippers play the Washington Wizards on Wednesday at Staples Center.