Kings Lose Heartbreaker to Clippers on Kawhi Leonard Buzzer Beater

The Sacramento Kings fought the Clippers to the end of the game, but Kawhi Leonard's late shot sinks the Kings.

Mar 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots the game-winning shot against Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis (23) and center Jonas Valanciunas (17) in overtime at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This game could come back to haunt the Sacramento Kings, as they fell 110-111 to the Los Angeles Clippers in the back-and-forth overtime affair.

In a game with 23 lead changes and no team holding a double digits lead throughout, the Kings looked like they would be able to pull away in the fourth quarter before the Clippers came back to force overtime before stealing the game in the final second on a Kawhi Leonard buzzer beater.

Derrick Jones Jr's overturned three-point foul call on DeMar DeRozan will be a big talking point of this game. DeRozan was set to have a chance to put the Kings up by five with the three free-throw attempts, but instead the call was overturned and the Kings didn't score again in the final minute and five seconds of regulation.

Zach LaVine led the Kings with 30 points, continuing his strong play, but he shot just 1-of-7, 14.3%, from beyond the arc, coming back down to earth from his flamethrower shooting stretch over the last six games.

It wasn't just LaVine that went cold from three, but the whole team. Sacramento shot 9-of-34, 26.5%, from deep. The Clippers didn't shoot great either, but just enough to beat out the Kings, finishing 10-of-31, 32.3%.

The Kings are looking better and better of late, playing on both sides of the ball, but there are still times where the offense seems to disappear. Against the San Antonio Spurs, they were able to recover and run away with the game, but tonight unfortunately, it happened in the final minutes of the game and cost them against a direct postseason standings competitor.

If the season were younger, this is the type of game you hang your hat on and build from, but with just 19 games left, it could go down as one of the biggest what-ifs of the season as the postseason looms.

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