Kings’ Domantas Sabonis breaks Heat fans’ hearts with unreal game-winner
Domas comes up huge for the Kings!
It’s difficult to stand out in a 15-game slate, but the certainly had some pulses raised with its barnburner of an ending. But in the end, the Kings were the ones that came out on top, 111-110, courtesy of a clutch putback that left just 0.7 seconds on the clock.
One of the strong points of this Kings roster is their shot-making ability in the clutch. They have De’Aaron Fox and DeMar DeRozan, two contenders for the Clutch Player of the Year award since its inception, leading the way, and the Kings opted to give the ball to Fox with a chance to take the lead and perhaps win the game. Fox, however, missed a pull-up shot from the free-throw line after shedding the Heat defender, therefore
Sabonis has arguably been the best rebounder in the NBA over the past few seasons, and he showed why in inhaling the game-winning offensive rebound over a swarm of Heat players. He managed to grab the ball over Bam Adebayo, who mistimed his jump, and then he secured possession even though both Terry Rozier III and Pelle Larsson were looking to swipe at the ball.
Moreover, Sabonis didn’t even bring the ball down; after he secured the ball, he immediately threw up an off-balanced floater before Adebayo could even attempt to block the shot. The Kings center deserves so much credit for his composure in the situation, as other players would most likely have clanked a putback attempt as they rushed to get a shot up.
This was a fitting end to what was a back-and-forth between the Kings and Heat in the fourth quarter. From the 11:47 mark of the final period, no team led by more than five points, and Sabonis ended up striking the decisive blow after Rozier missed a game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer.
The Kings’ stars came to play
