Nick Young had career highs of 43 points and seven 3-pointers and Kirk Hinrich made sure they didn't go to waste as the host Washington Wizards held on for a 136-133 overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.
The Wizards held leads in regulation of eight points with 45 seconds left and six points with possession with 18 seconds remaining but were still pushed to overtime by the Kings, who dropped to 0-2 on their six-game trip.
Young split two free throws with 11 seconds to play in regulation that left the Wizards with a two-point lead. After a timeout, Pooh Jeter blew right past fellow rookie John Wall for an easy lefthanded layup and 126-126 tie. Wall missed a contested 18-footer as time expired.
Hinrich opened the extra session with a jumper and later drove for a bucket and hit a jumper to provide a 135-130 edge with 28 ticks to go. Washington again barely held on as Hinrich - who had just committed a turnover - stole a pass under the basket with five seconds left and the Wizards clinging to a two-point lead.
After Al Thornton split two free throws to again leave the door open, Kings rookie center DeMarcus Cousins missed a 3-pointer from the left corner with under a second to play.
The Kings scored six points in the final 15 seconds of regulation with the help of two steals and a three-point play by Francisco Garcia to force overtime.
Young made 14-of-22 shots, including 7-of-10 from the arc. He warmed up in the first quarter with 14 points and scored 18 straight Wizards points that pushed a 78-71 lead to 96-83 just 15 seconds into the fourth period.
Washington owned the first and third quarters by a combined 78-46, while Sacramento owned the second and fourth periods, 80-48.
Sacramento | Washington | |
Francisco Garcia 26 | Scoring | Nick Young 43 |
Eugene Jeter 11 | Assists | John Wall 9 |
Omri Casspi 8 | Rebounds | Andray Blatche 13 |
Francisco Garcia 5 | Free Throws Made | John Wall 10 |
Carl Landry 3 | Steals | Andray Blatche 4 |
Francisco Garcia 2 | Blocks | Andray Blatche 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Sacramento | 133 | 49.1 | 7-20 | 20-25 | 31 | 40 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
Washington | 136 | 49.5 | 9-17 | 33-39 | 28 | 55 | 3 | 10 | 20 |