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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Kings rally from 35 down to shock Bulls


Associated Press

CHICAGO — The buzzer sounded, the 35-point comeback was complete and both the ecstatic Sacramento Kings and the stunned Chicago Bulls had trouble describing what had just happened.

"Wow! All I can say is, 'Wow!' " Tyreke Evans said after dominating down the stretch and leading the Kings to a 102-98 victory last night. "We fought to the end. It was amazing."

Indeed, it was one of the most amazing comebacks in NBA history.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the biggest rally since Utah overcame a 36-point deficit to beat Denver on Nov. 27, 1996.

"I mean, what can you say? It's unheard of to do what just happened," Kings coach Paul Westphal said. "I'm not even sure I believe it, but it sure was fun."

The Bulls were talking about a collapse, not a comeback.

"This one stings," Chicago coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We stopped being aggressive, got a little complacent there and they jumped on it. We're not good enough to take a minute off, never mind a half."

The Bulls led 79-44 with 8:50 left in the third quarter, and were still up 83-50 two minutes later before the Kings stole momentum and, eventually, the game.

After Sacramento finished the third with a 19-5 run to make it 88-69, Ime Udoka scored 15 of the Kings' first 22 points in the fourth quarter to cut it to 95-91 with 2:28 remaining.

Evans then personally outscored the Bulls 9-3 the rest of the way.

"I just kept attacking and never gave up," Evans said.

Cavaliers 109, Suns 91: LeBron James and Mo Williams led a 15-0 fourth-quarter run and Cleveland went on to hand Phoenix its first home loss of the season. James scored 29 and Williams 24 as the Cavs shot 53 percent. Phoenix had been 10-0 at home.

Bucks 84, Pacers 81: Andrew Bogut scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, leading visiting Milwaukee over Indiana. Rookie guard Brandon Jennings had 16 points and six assists for the Bucks.

Spurs 103, Clippers 87: Tony Parker scored 19 points and Roger Mason Jr. finished with 12 points, including 10 in a 9:40 stretch of the second quarter, as host San Antonio beat Los Angeles.

Magic 104, Jazz 99: J.J. Redick had 20 points, Rashard Lewis scored 18 and host Orlando blew past Utah with some potent 3-point shooting. The Magic were 9 for 21 from beyond the arc.