Kings beat Clippers in second-highest scoring game in NBA history, combining for 351 points

Russell Westbrook debuted for the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night, and his first game will undoubtedly be remembered. 

Westbrook had 17 points and 14 assists in 39 minutes but fouled out in the second overtime as the Sacramento Kings defeated the Clippers 176-175 in the second-highest-scoring game in NBA history.

It was only the second time in league history that both teams scored at least 170 points. 

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The highest-scoring game remains the 1983 matchup between the Detroit Pistons and the Denver Nuggets when Detroit won 186-184 in three overtimes. 

“I thought was a great game. A lot of momentum shifts,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

The Clippers held a 175-169 lead with just under two minutes to play in the second overtime, but Sacramento scored the final seven points including De’Aaron Fox’s jumper with 36.1 seconds remaining to give the Kings the lead. 

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Fox finished the night with 42 points, 12 assists, and five steals, playing 45 minutes in the win. 

“We just had to grind this game out. We were on the second night of a back-to-back but it is what it is. We have a younger team than them,” Fox said.

Malik Monk had 45 points off the bench, making it the first time two Kings players have scored at least 40 points in a game in franchise history. 

“We just stuck with it. We got down 12 at one point but just had our heads up. We knew they were going to let us back in,” Monk said.

For the Clippers, Westbrook’s debut came a few days after LA signed the nine-time All-Star after being waived by the Utah Jazz earlier in the week. 

“It’s about what I imagined,” Clippers star Paul George said, according to ESPN. “The reason why I was high on Russ being a part of this team was because of what he brings, and you saw the flashes of it tonight.”

George, who scored 34 points Friday night, was teammates with Westbrook in Oklahoma City in 2018-19. 

“We needed a point guard,” George said. “We needed somebody that you saw tonight, somebody to get us in offense, somebody to get us easy baskets and a floor general. That was just a necessity that we needed.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.