In less than three minutes, their 10-point lead was gone and it appeared that the same old dreadful Sacramento Kings were about lose another winnable match.

After Harrison Barnes calmly rose above Devin Booker, the 3-pointer looked great all the way and it sailed through the net at buzzer to give Kings a thrilling 110-107 win over the Phoenix Suns.

The Kings found a way to win, not lose. That’s a step forward.

Luke Walton, Kings coach, said that “We are a different team.” “I know that we have a lot to go, but we’ve worked hard and believe in each other.

The Kings led by as much as 13 points at the end of the fourth quarter, but the Suns won the game. Booker found Mikal bridges to do an alley-oop dunk in 34 seconds, to tie the game at107.

Phoenix was able to make a defense stop on the next possession, but Booker’s 18-foot jumper at 4.1 seconds was too difficult. Sacramento grabbed the rebound, and Sacramento called a timeout in order to get a final possession.

De’Aaron Fox made a quick inbounds pass for Barnes with 1.4 seconds remaining. Booker was tightening his grip on Barnes. Barnes, at 6’8 inches, jumped and turned, rising above Booker’s outstretched arm to take the game-winning shot.

Barnes stated that there were no nerves during the final moments. “Honestly, they’re just trying get a good view. We are prepared for the worst case scenario and we will go to overtime.

Walton stated that the Kings must learn from their jittery last minutes. However, it’s much easier to teach these lessons with a win.

Walton stated, “It can be an emotional rollercoaster sometimes.” “I’m proud of our guys, they played really hard tonight. They came back from a bad first half and built up a good lead. They also made big plays. We must learn from this.

Barnes had 22 points. Buddy Hield excelled in his bench role, scoring 26 points in 27 minutes. Buddy Hield, a 6-foot-4 guard, made seven 3-pointers in a season record time and had five rebounds.

Tyrese Halibrton scored 15 points, and made an off-balance 3 pointer from the corner in the fourth quarter to keep the Kings ahead. The Kings moved to 2-2 and are trying break a 15-year streak of losing seasons.

The Suns are now 1-3, a slow start after reaching the NBA Finals last year. The Suns have similar expectations for this season, with almost the same team. However, they had a difficult night shooting from long distance, finishing 6 out 22 (27.3%) behind the arc.

Deandre Ayton scored 21 points and grabbed a record 21 rebounds for the season. Booker had a record 31 points. Jae Crowder, who scored 10 points, said that the Suns were cruising at times up to the end.

Crowder stated, “You saw us playing desperate.” Crowder said, “We need to find a way that generates that for 48 minutes. We must be the hunter again, not being hunted. We’re up for the challenge, but not for 48 minutes.

After trailing for most of the night, the Kings were able to take a 17-6 lead and push them to an 82–76 advantage at the end of the third quarter. On 7-of-22 (32%) shooting, the Suns only scored 15 points in this third quarter.

In the first half, the Suns led by 61 to 53 at halftime. Ayton scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds prior to the break. He also made 8 of 11 field goal attempts. Fox and Barnes each scored 10 points for the Kings.

TIP-INS

Kings: Alex Len had 10 points and three rebounds for the Kings. To put the Kings ahead, he made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. He spent five of his first five NBA seasons with the Suns as a 7-footer. Terence Davis missed seven of his shots.

Suns: Backup point-guard Cam Payne was unable to play due to a right hamstring strain. Elfrid Payton was the backup point guard for Cam Payne, and he finished with 10 points.

UP NEXT

Kings: Friday, New Orleans.

Suns: Cleveland hosts Suns on Saturday