SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Charlotte guard Malik Monk set a three-point game to go by 1.4 seconds to complete a frantic Hornets rally in the last minute Sunday night and hand the Sacramento Kings what Coach Luke Walton a “painful loss for his group.
Sacramento led 123-115 after a dunk from Harrison Barnes, but Walton’s team couldn’t shut it down. The Kings missed five free throws in the last 69 seconds and lost for the 10th time in 11 games.
“Getting to the end of a game is where we have to come up and deploy teams, and we didn’t,” Walton said. “Give Charlotte credit. They hit 3s and made every free throw along the stretch. That’s a painful loss for our boys. We didn’t finish.”
Monk finished with 21 points to help Charlotte come back despite playing without top scorer Gordon Hayward, who was out with a hand injury. PJ Washington scored a career-high 42 points, and LaMelo Ball added 24 points and a career-best 12 assists for the Hornets, who were behind the entire fourth quarter before Monk’s game-winning game hit the final score of 127-126.
“It goes back to that term of resilience, never drop the sword, never give in and fight to the last second,” said Hornets coach James Borrego. “They had to miss a few free throws to help us, but we found a way. Men, we found a way to win. Just proud of our group.”
Hornet Guard Terry Rozier hit a 3-pointer, then added three free throws after being fouled by Barnes with 33.7 seconds left.
After Washington’s fifth 3 narrowed the lead to 125-124 with 17 seconds remaining, Buddy Hield hit one of two free throws for the Kings.
Monk followed by driving off the lane and throwing the ball off the board with his right hand. He was polluted by Richaun Holmes.
“It was a play for me or PJ,” said Monk. I told you [Ball] to pass it on to P, and he was like, no. I had to let something happen. ”
Hield, who finished with 30 points, missed an outburst of desperation from outside the midcourt as time ran out. Earlier Sunday night, he became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 1,000 3-pointers in his career, which he did in his 350th career game. Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry was the previous fastest with 369 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.