Gay, Landry Lead Kings Over Pacers 102-101 In OT
It required a game-winning shot in the final second of overtime by Carl Landry for the Sacramento Kings to finally win a game without DeMarcus Cousins on the court.
Rudy Gay scored 27 points, but it was Landry playing the hero's role by converting the game-winner for the Kings, who beat the struggling Indiana Pacers 102-101 in overtime Friday night to stop a four-game losing streak.
Suffering from a viral infection, Cousins watched in street clothes as his teammates squandered a 17-point third quarter lead, but managed to escape with the victory to halt a 16-game losing streak. Their last victory with Cousins sidelined was April 13, 2013, against Chicago.
"Hopefully this gives us a little confidence. We have to find a way (to win) when anyone is hurt," Kings coach Michael Malone said.
A veteran forward in his eighth season, Landry has proved valuable off the bench this season. That was definitely the case against the Pacers.
Landry grabbed the rebound of a missed 15-foot baseline jumper by Gay, made a quick fake and converted underneath with 0.8 seconds left.
"We ran a play to get Darren Collison open on the inbound play, to eventually give Rudy the ball on an isolation," said Landry, who had 14 points and seven rebounds. "I just told my teammates that Reggie (Evans) and I were going to crash the glass. But being in situations like that you never know. The ball will bounce your way and that's what it did tonight."
The Kings were outscored 24-16 in the fourth quarter and didn't have a basket over the final 4:12 of regulation. They outscored the Pacers 6-5 in overtime.
Collison scored 20 points for the Kings, while Ben McLemore added 12 and Jason Thompson contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.
David West scored 14 of his 16 in the final two quarters, and missed on a 29-footer in overtime to end the game. Indiana has lost four straight and five of six. Rodney Stuckey and CJ Watson both had 14 points, while Luis Scolaand Damjan Rudez each added 11.
"This is frustrating as any loss. We've won one that way and we've lost one that way," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "It's part of the long NBA season. You are going to have some games
like that. I am proud of the way we competed down the stretch to make it a game when we were down."
Cousins, the Kings' leading scorer and rebounder, missed his fourth straight game with a viral infection. Cousins is expected to miss Saturday's home game against Orlando, but return Monday against visiting Utah.
Watson erased a four-point Kings lead early in OT, hitting a 3-pointer and scoring on a drive
to put the Pacers up 101-100. No other Pacer scored in overtime. West made a difficult 6-footer in traffic to tie the game at 96 with 26.1 seconds remaining. He missed a desperate shot at the fourth-quarter buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
COLLISON CONTRIBUTES: Collison was coming off perhaps his worst game of the season, missing all five shots and scoring four points in a Tuesday loss to Toronto where he never left the bench in the fourth quarter. He had all of his four steals in the opening quarter against Indiana and finished with six assists and six rebounds.
ROAD WOES: The Pacers dropped all four games on their road trip and are now 3-8 away from home this season.
Pacers: After starting the first 18 games of the season, point guard Donald Sloan did not play in Thursday's loss to Portland or against the Kings.. . Indiana starters made five of 21 first-half shots and had 13 points.
Kings: In a tribute to the 1950s, the Kings wore retro uniforms with Rochester on the front. The franchise began in Rochester, New York, before moving to Cincinnati, Kansas City and then Sacramento for the 1985-86 season.
The Pacers host Atlanta on Monday.
The Kings host Orlando on Saturday.
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