Sacramento Kings Reach .500, Claim 116-112 Victory Over Washington Wizards

Nemanja Bjelica Scores 26 Points For Kings

Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal gets a two-hand dunk in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Sacramento, Calif. Publicity Agents photo art by T. Ray Harvey. Oct. 26, 2018.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Sacramento, Calif. — .Nemanja Bjelica played with some great basketball talent in the Minnesota Timberwolves during his stay.

.His style of play at the power forward position actually stood out despite Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Townes hogging all the spotlight, as they should.

.But the Sacramento Kings signed Bejelica during the offseason and it was no doubt that he would be a big contributor, out from the shadows of the trio in the upper midwest. In six games he’s been solid.

.Bjelica had 26 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the floor and a season-high 12 rebounds to lead the Kings 116-112 over the visiting Washington Wizards at Golden 1 Center on Friday. He also made six 3-point shots, attempting 10 behind the arc.

.Kings head coach Dave Joerger said Bjelica has some habits he has to break. But the 6-foot-10 Serbian is doing what he suppose to as a Stretch-4.

“He gets in trouble a little bit sometimes when he puts the ball on the floor and overthinks it,” Joerger said. “But he’s smart, and he knows how to play. So it just makes having a stretch four change the whole thing. He’s smart enough that I can move him around to different positions and we can do some different things.”

.The Kings (3-3) won their second game in a row and broke a four-game losing streak to the Wizards. The Kins also grabbed 53 rebounds, which is they have pull down 50 or more rebounds in the last two games.

.Buddy Hield added 22 points, five rebounds, and two assists while De’Aaron Fox contributed 18 points, nine assists, and one steal for the Kings, who dished out 25 dimes as a team. Willie Cauley-Stein added 17 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

.The Wizards lead 95-90 in the middle of the fourth quarter before the Kings went on an 18-6 run to lead 108-101 with 2:45 left to play. The Wizards marched back to get within one-point when John Wall made a 3-point basket to make the score 113-112 with 3.2 seconds left.

.It would be the end of scoring for the Washinton as they made critical turnovers by Bradley Beal (lost ball out of bounds), Markeiff (bad pass out of bounds), and Jeff Green (bad pass out of bounds) doomed the Wizards in the last 23 seconds, overall.

.Equally important, the Wizards (1-4) have let teams score 113 points or more in each contest this season. Before Washington made it to Sacramento, the lost 144-122 to the Golden State Warriors.

“We’re not guarding no damn body and that’s what it comes down to,” Beal said after the game. “Winning games don’t come down to just making shots. Granted, who scores the most points win. But if you don't stop them from scoring you don't win the game. We’ve given up like a 100 points in every game so far this year and that's terrible.”

.Wall had 26 points, eight assists, and three steals for the Wizard. Beal, who played after skipping shootaround due to a chest injury, added 21 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Oubre came off the bench to score 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and dish out two assists.

“Every time we gotta five, seven or eight-point lead we let them have a run,” Wizards head coach Scotty Brooks said. “A lot of mistakes on the defensive end, mainly in transition. Too many times. Sometimes we let our offense dictate how we play on the defensive end. If you're not making shots you still gotta defend. It's a two-way sport and you gotta be able to do that.”

By T. Ray Harvey | PA Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist

Footage by Russell Stiger Jr. | PA Visual Artist and Image Content Specialist

Twitter: Tony Ray Harvey @PublicityAgents

Email: infopublicityagents@gmail.com

T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.