Sacramento showed resiliency at the Moda Center, forcing overtime but still losing in the final second.
The Sacramento Kings appeared to be heading for an early exit and one more lopsided defeat. This time at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers who led by 18 late.
Except the Kings turned to their veterans to force overtime.
Down 107-89, Sacramento outscored the home team 26-8 to send the game into the extra period. DeMar DeRozan then banked a 14-foot turnaround jumper with 4.4 left. However, Russell Westbrook got called for a questionable shooting foul -- leading to two Deni Avdija free throws to cement the 134-133 win.
Again, the late Westbrook foul drew confusion -- even from NBA insider for Andscape on ESPN Marc J. Spears
"The Kings can’t catch a break even when they appear to have earned one. Was that a foul?" Spears posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.
Here's the foul in question as captured by NBC Sports California.
Westbrook still delivered a masterful evening despite the controversial ending -- dropping 20 points and dishing out 10 assists. He helped spark the fourth quarter rally following a pair of Maxime Raynaud free throws -- hitting a running layup at the 4:25 mark with the rookie on the assist.
Westbrook banked two more free throws before again attacking the hoop on one more running layup, this one cutting the lead to 113-110 with 21.4 seconds to go in the fourth. He made two more free throws before DeRozan sent the game into overtime.
Portland managed to outscore the Kings 19-18 in overtime in surviving the potential comeback attempt. Avdija led the night with 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting. Shaedon Sharpe added 26 points in 35 minutes of action. Jerami Grant scored 20 as the last member of the Blazers to hit the 20-point threshold.
DeRozan went off with 33 points in 35 total minutes. Raynaud dropped 29 points and played an instrumental role in the comeback. Keegan Murray earned the most minutes at 43 -- ending with 17 points plus leading the defensive output with four blocks. Keon Ellis scored 10 off the bench.
No other Kings players reached past double figures in scoring. Nique Clifford and Dylan Cardwell were the closest ones in scoring eight points apiece. The latter swatted three shot attempts to lead the reserves.
The Kings now drop to 6-21 overall and a dismal 3-13 in away games. Sacramento's last road win came on Dec. 6 against the Miami Heat.