Nemanja Bjelica mobbed by team-mates after sinking buzzer-beater to stun Rockets
Tuesday 10 December 2019 10:07, UK
Nemanja Bjelica was mobbed by his team-mates after he drained a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to earn the Sacramento Kings a 119-118 win at the buzzer against the Houston Rockets.
When Luke Walton took over as coach of the Sacramento Kings, he thought Bjelica was just a big man he could use to create space.
As he has got to know Bjelica, Walton has started to see the 6ft 10in forward is much more than that, something which was clear on Monday night against the Houston Rockets when Bjelica made a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Kings to victory.
"As I get to know him and see what he is capable of... [I see] he is a skilled player," Walton said.
The game was tied before Russell Westbrook drove into the lane for a lay-up that put Houston on top with a second to go. After a timeout, Cory Joseph inbounded the ball to Bjelica and his long-distance three-pointer swished through the net to give the Kings the win and send the entire bench onto the court to celebrate.
"Great pass by Cory and I was open and went deep because I felt good at that range," Bjelica said. "And I just took a shot and it went in."
Houston coach Mike D'Antoni explained what happened with his team's defense on the final play.
"Just a breakdown," he said. "We just left a guy wide open for no reason whatsoever."
Buddy Hield had 26 points to lead the Kings, who had six players score in double figures as they won their second straight after losing the previous three.
Hield and the rest of the Kings were thrilled to see Bjelica make such a big play.
"You saw when he made the shot how everyone loves him," Hield said. "He is one of the best team-mates on the team so everybody is happy for his success."
Westbrook had a season-high 34 points and James Harden added 27 points and 10 assists for Houston.
The game was tied earlier in the fourth when Westbrook dished it to Ben McLemore, whose three-pointer made it 116-113 with 22.7 seconds to go. Hield missed a triple after that, but Bogdan Bogdanovic grabbed the rebound and got it back to Hield, who did not miss this time to tie it again with 8.4 seconds left.
After the game, Walton said he had wanted to try some new things on defense against Harden and Westbrook, but Sacramento's schedule had not left any time for practice lately. So he got creative.
"We put that in this morning in our film session," he said. "We had tape down on the floor in the hotel ballroom that we were in and we walked through it in a ballroom.
"So with that being said, I think our guys did a good job of executing something that is new for us."
