SACRAMENTO, March 24 — Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes scored 25 points apiece to lead the host Sacramento Kings to a 112-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns yesterday.
Marvin Bagley III added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings. Nemanja Bjelica recorded 13 points and a career-best 17 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox had 13 points and nine assists.
Hield made seven 3-pointers to set a franchise single-season record with 245. He broke the mark of Peja Stojakovic (240 in 2003-04), who is now the club’s assistant general manager.
Devin Booker posted 32 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who lost for the sixth time in the past eight games. Deandre Ayton added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Troy Daniels had 16 points, Richaun Holmes scored 14 points and Mikal Bridges had 11.
The Kings are 5 1/2 games behind the eighth-place San Antonio Spurs for the final Western Conference playoff spot with 10 games remaining.
Sacramento was 17 of 38 from behind the arc and shot 42.4 per cent overall.
The Suns shot 40.9 per cent from the field, including 9 of 34 from behind the arc.
Phoenix was within 96-95 on Booker’s three-point play with 4:16 left. But Sacramento scored nine of the next 11 points with Barnes draining a 3-pointer and Hield adding a basket to give the Kings a 105-97 lead with 2:08 remaining.
Phoenix pulled within 107-103 on Ayton’s layup with 50.7 seconds to play. But Bagley’s three-point play with 35.3 seconds left and Fox’s dunk with 24.7 seconds sealed the Kings’ second straight win after they lost 10 of their previous 14 games.
Booker scored 22 first-half points as the Suns led 53-47 at the break.
The Kings recorded the game’s first five points before Phoenix rattled off 19 in row with Booker scoring 11 of them.
The Suns led by 14 with under four minutes left in the half before Sacramento scored 13 straight, capped by a dunk by Barnes that pulled the Kings within 48-47 with 56.2 seconds remaining.
Booker scored the final five of the half to account for the six-point halftime edge.
The Kings started the third quarter strong and Hield drained a 3-pointer to give them a 61-60 edge with 6:46 left. Sacramento later closed with a 9-4 run to take a 79-75 advantage into the final stanza. — Reuters
