Kings storm back from 35 down to beat Bulls 102-98
Published 8:16 am Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tyreke Evans and the Sacramento Kings pulled off an incredible comeback, rallying from 35 points down in the second half to stun the Chicago Bulls 102-98 on Monday night.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the NBA’s biggest comeback since Utah overcame a 36-point deficit to beat Denver on Nov. 27, 1996.
The Bulls led 79-44 with 8:50 left in the third quarter and were still up 83-50 two minutes later before they collapsed.
Evans personally outscored Chicago 9-3 over the final 2:13 and finished with 23 points for Sacramento, which has its first two-game road winning streak since late in the 2007-08 season.
After Sacramento finished the third with a 19-5 run to make it 88-69, Ime Udoka scored 15 of the Kings’ next 22 points in 9:32 to cut it to 95-91. That’s when Evans, the outstanding rookie guard from Memphis, took over.
Evans converted a three-point play and, after Chicago’s Luol Deng made a free throw, scored on a drive and hit a foul shot to give the Kings their first lead since the opening minutes. Evans then hit a 22-footer at the shot-clock buzzer to put Sacramento up 99-96.
Derrick Rose made two free throws to cut it to 99-98 before Evans made one of two free throws. After Rose missed a layup, Beno Udrih clinched the win with two more free throws.
Deng scored 26 points and Rose added 24 for the Bulls, who were booed off the court.