Nemanja Bjelica of Belgrade, Serbia all of a sudden has become a household basketball game. That is because, on Monday night, Bjelica delivered one of the most memorable moments of the 2019-20 NBA regular season to date in a 119-118 Sacramento Kings upset win over the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX.
The game was initially tied at 113 points apiece with 22.7 seconds left. That is when Ben McLemore delivered an outstanding three-pointer to put Houston up 116-113. While coming off the bench, McLemore scored against a Kings squad who he had played for in five of the last six NBA seasons.
The Kings then responded with a three-point shot of their own to tie the game at 116. This time it was Buddy Hield who delivered a terrific shot from beyond the arc. The referees reviewed whether or not Hield was behind the three-point line or not. He was, and the three-point shot stood.
Then with eight seconds left, Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook had possession of the basketball, went coast to coast, and executed a layup with exactly one second left on the clock. The field goal put Houston up 118-116.
It would take a heroic moment for Sacramento to tie or win the game. The Kings then called a timeout. Canadian point guard Cory Joseph of Pickering, Ontario delivered a perfect pass to Bjelica, who caught and shot the ball. The buzzer beater from 33 feet gave the Kings a 119-118 dramatic win.
https://youtu.be/sGdx7yZM_D8
With the victory, Sacramento improved to a record of 10 wins and 13 losses, and are one game back of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns for a playoff spot. Houston fell to a record of 15 wins and eight losses.
