Photo credit: @StrikaNation24_

By: Jeremiah Salmonson

Sacramento — The Sacramento Kings and the Charlotte Hornets both came into their game Monday evening coming off losses. The Kings lost in a big way on Friday night, losing to the Memphis Grizzlies 106-88. The Hornets, on the other hand, played a great game on Saturday. However, they fell 106-105 against the Miami Heat. The Kings and Hornets were looking to bounce back at the Spectrum Center on Monday.

The first quarter would prove to have plenty of offense in it. The Kings scored 33 and the Hornets scored 35 in the first quarter. The points in the first for the Kings came from all over the roster with no player having more than six points by the end of the first. Bogdan Bodanovic had five points in the first along with Fox and Hield. Kosta Koufos had six points in the first leading the Kings. Leading the Hornets in the first would be Jeremy Lamb with five points. Dwight Howard and Nicolas Batum each had seven, and Kembra Walker ended the first with eight points.

The second quarter would prove to be a good one. That is until the Hornets scored the last eight points in the second quarter. That would send the hornets into the locker room ahead 67-55 over the Kings. At the half, the Kings were shooting at 38.5% from downtown, and 46.2% in field goals while making two of three free throws.

The Hornets, on the other hand, shot 50% outside, 54.8% of field goals, and 11 of 13 free throws. Leading the way for the Kings was De’Aaron Fox with ten points after the first half. Kosta Koufos had six rebounds and Bogdanovic had four assists. The Hornets led the way with Jeremy Lamb scoring 13 points. Dwight Howard had eight rebounds and four assists for Kemba Walker.

Going into the third, it appeared the Kings had lost some steam with the Hornets scoring the last eight points of the first half. Carter started the third quarter by hitting a three. That made the score 68-58 with 10:32 to play in the third. The Kings had fallen behind 13 points with 7:56 to go in the third quarter. The score would be 73-60 when the Kings took a timeout. One of the lopsided figures so far in this game was free throws. With 5:37 to go in the third the Kings had made three of four free throws.

Meanwhile, the Hornets managed to make 12 of 15 attempts from the line. Bogdan Bogdanovic took a blow with 4:45 to play in the third. He was down for a minute but made his way back up. The officials took it to replay and determined it was not a flagrant and play resumed. The Kings would battle but end the third trailing 92-75.

The Hornets would extend extend their lead to 20 points with only 10:30 to play. The score at the time was 95-75. 8:14 remained in the game with the Kings trailing by 16 points and coach Dave Joerger took a timeout. The Kings continued to battle with Buddy Hield and the Kings going on a 15-6 run. With 4:57 to go, the Kings got the score back to a respectable 101-92. The game would go back to forth until the Kings made it 107-102. However, the Hornets would pull away and bury the Kings 112-107.

What’s next?
Kings: Tuesday against Orlando Magic in Orlando at 4 pm PST.

Hornets: Wednesday against New Orleans Pelicans at 4:30 pm PST.