ShareThisCHICAGO - When the Sacramento Kings walked so sheepishly off the United Center floor at halftime against Chicago on Monday night, they half expected to have pink slips waiting in their lockers with the way they pretended to compete.
Nonexistent defense on their part and outrageous offense from the Bulls added up to a 24-point deficit. And even tempered as coach Paul Westphal may be, some players were certain a tongue-lashing was coming.
"But he didn't come in here and curse us out like we were little kids," rookie guard Tyreke Evans said. "He talked to us. He said, 'We're not playing our best basketball, but keep fighting.' And then we went out there and did that. It was unbelievable."
Believe it or not, it happened. The Kings pulled off a 35-point comeback, shocking the Bulls 102-98 and skipping town to a chorus of boos that were aimed at both teams as the announced crowd of 19,631was venomous in its disbelief.
It was the second-biggest comeback in the NBA since play-by-play began being tracked in 1996, bested only by Utah's 36-point comeback in a win over Denver on Nov. 27, 1996.
Evans -- whose pick pocketing of Gilbert Arenas on Wednesday beat Washington and who hit the game-winning layup in Milwaukee Saturday -- showed uncannily clutch abilities yet again. He scored nine of the Kings' final 11 points, all of them coming in the final 2:13 as he fearlessly attacked the rim against the wide-eyed Bulls defenders and either finished or went to the line (hitting 3 of 5).
No shot was bigger than his 22-footer over the outstretched arm of Luol Deng, with Evans showing why he was once nicknamed "Rainbow Man" -- his high-arching shot fell through as the shot clock sounded, and the Kings went up 99-96. He drew boos for his celebration, cupping his hands below his belt in machismo fashion as the Kings' bench erupted.
Evans' defense was the finisher, though. With 14 seconds left and the Kings up 100-98, Derrick Rose drove left, spun right, and the reigning Rookie of the Year was met by Evans' 6-foot-11 wingspan.
"This should be a classic," said Evans, who had struggled all night but finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists. "I still don't know how we did it. I need to watch film and look at it. It was just an unbelievable game. Nobody in the stands knew we were going to come back. It seemed like it was impossible.
"(But) like they say, 'Impossible is Nothing,' and we got the win."
It was the cherry on top of an unfathomable effort, with the Kings orchestrating a 58-19 run to end the game that spanned the final 21 minutes.
The Bulls had jumped out to a 22-point lead late in the first quarter, when Deng's 14 points came against Andres Nocioni and Chicago hit 17 of 24 shots. Combined with Nocioni's 1-of-5 shooting start and early benching, it was seemingly enough to ruin his night in his first trip back to Chicago since he was traded from the Bulls in February.
But with nine minutes left in the third, reserve forwards Jon Brockman and Ime Udoka changed everything. Brockman hit the boards and the Bulls with his typical toughness, and Udoka upped the defensive tone.
"Ime said it best sitting on the bench," Brockman said. "He said, 'We have nothing to lose.'"
By the time it was over, the Kings had defensive stops on 31 of the Bulls' final 40 possessions.
"Momentum is an amazing thing," Westphal said. "Once the momentum shifted, our guys started believing that they could make it interesting. And then they started believing that they could win. Just amazing."
(Contact Sam Amick at samick@sacbee.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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