SACRAMENTO -- With 6.1 seconds remaining in regulation and his Sacramento Kings team down two, coach Dave Joerger called a timeout to run one last play. Prized rookie point guard De'Aaron Fox inbounded the ball to Willie Cauley-Stein and went to set a screen for Bogdan Bogdanovic, but the Nets jumped the play.
"First of all, he set a great screen, which made him open," Bogdanovic said of Fox. "His guy kind of sagged off a little bit and he just read the play. That's what makes him great. He'll just improve from this point."
Knowing the clock was running, Cauley-Stein got the ball back to Fox on the elbow with 3.6 seconds remaining. Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie overplayed Fox to his right side trying to avoid giving up a 3-pointer. In doing so, he left a perfect lane for Fox to explode baseline.
"At first, I was going to shoot it," Fox said of the final possession in regulation. "The close out was really hard, so I just took it one dribble and I've been making floaters today, so I took that shot."
With veteran DeMarre Carroll cutting to close off his path, Fox tossed a high-arching floater that ate the remaining ticks on the clock. When it cut through the net, Golden 1 Center erupted. Overtime.
"That's what he does - that's his floater," Skal Labissiere said. "He got to his move, a shot he's comfortable with, and he knocked it down. He's quick, fast and very skilled."
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The Kings were energized by the shot and the buzz of the crowd. They rode the momentum through the overtime session to come away with a 116-111 victory in the extra session. The win snapped a five-game losing streak.
"This is probably the most competitive I've seen De'Aaron - he's tired of losing already," Joerger said following the win.
It wasn't just Fox who put in work. Bogdanovic came into the fourth quarter with just nine points. He scored seven points in the fourth quarter to keep Sacramento in the game and another seven in the overtime session as the Kings pulled away.
"You can see it, how much we (fought) in this game," Bogdan Bogdanovic said. "We really didn't want to lose this one."
Bogdanovic scored a team-high 23 overall on 9-of-17 shooting. He added five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes of action. Fox finished strong as well, scoring 21 points and grabbing three steals in 36 minutes.
Joerger stuck with his young backcourt all the way down the stretch and through the overtime session and they found a way to overcome adversity and come away with a much needed win.
