DeRozan's historic 39 points weren't enough as the short-handed Kings couldn't contain Charlotte's balanced attack, falling to the surging Hornets.
The short-handed Sacramento Kings fell to the red-hot Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night by a score of 117-109, snapping their 2-game win streak and dropping their record to 16-51.
Despite a late surge and a dominant outing from 6-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, Sacramento came up short against Charlotte's four most potent offensive weapons.
LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Brandon Miller and rookie Kon Knueppel combined for exactly 100 of the Hornets' points. Ball led the charge with 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Bridges, Knueppel and Miller finished with 26, 20 and 24 points respectively.
Though the Hornets walked out of the Golden 1 Center with a victory, it was hard-earned. Sacramento followed the lead of DeRozan, as he poured in a game-high 39 points while knocking down 17 of his 22 attempts from the field.
The all-time great scorer was not able to keep the Kings' winning streak live, but he notched yet another accolade to continue building his potential Hall of Fame case.
With a bucket at the 2:36 mark of the third quarter, DeRozan passed San Antonio Spurs legend and Hall of Famer Tim Duncan on the league's scoring list (26,496 points), moving to No. 18 all-time.
He finished his night with an incredible box score output, and his scoring display may have done a bit to distract from his dazzling passing.
DeRozan controlled the offense for the entirety of the first half, scoring 22 of his points in the first two frames and leading his group to a 62-59 halftime advantage.
Of the Kings who supported DeRozan throughout the night, Killian Hayes was the most surprising contributor. The 10-day contract signee earned the starting nod from head coach Doug Christie, and he took advantage of the opportunity with an 11-point, 4-assist night on 5-for-9 shooting from the field.
Rookie Nique Clifford started to get back into an offensive rhythm, filling the box score with 18 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds in a shade under 41 minutes of work. Precious Achiuwa chipped in 14 points and 8 rebounds, and Maxime Raynaud changed the game as a rim-protector with a game-high 3 blocks to pair with 4 points and 6 boards.
Daeqwon Plowden also made his presence felt with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting, remaining active as ever on defense and always willing to let an open three-pointer fly, hitting 3 of his 7 tries from deep.
Sacramento put up a fight against a Hornets group steamrolling their competition, even with 9 players missing due to injury.
The group will aim to get back on track as visitors against Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.
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