NBA Top Five Performances, Feb. 24: Malik Monk’s 45 Points Helped Sacramento Kings Outlast Los Angeles Clippers

The Kings and Clippers had the second-highest scoring game in NBA history.

TOP PLAYER OF THE DAY:

The Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings faced off with major implications for the Western Conference standings. It ended up being one of the most exciting games of the year after Kings guard Malik Monk had a career-high 45 points off the bench.

He helped the Kings overcome a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Monk extended the game twice, hitting the tying 3-pointer to go into the first overtime and the free throws to forced a second overtime. He scored 14 points in overtime.

“Two weeks before the All-Star game, [coach] Mike was talking about it,” Monk said. “We gotta close these games out that we need to win, because we got a tough schedule coming up after this. He told us the same thing: ‘We’re gonna see who we are, we’re gonna see what we’re about tonight too.’ [The Clippers] are a physical team and they are in the playoffs a lot. We wanna get to where they’re at, so we did what we needed to do.”

OTHERS:

- Zach LaVine had 32 points in the Chicago Bulls’ 131-87 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

- Julius Randle tied his career-high in scoring with a 46-point performance against the Washington Wizards. Randle was 7 of 14 from 3-point range.

- Klay Thompson had 42 points on 12 of 17 shooting from the arc in the Golden State Warriors’ win over the Houston Rockets. Thompson nearly broke his own record for most 3-pointers in a game (14).

- Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball had 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.