WASHINGTON — With the score tied, the hottest player on the court faced off against a defender who had been riding the bench all game.
It was no contest.
Isaiah Thomas took the inbounds pass and sized up Garrett Temple, driving to the middle of the lane to put in a left-handed floater with a second remaining to give the Sacramento Kings a 96-94 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
“I seen a guy that was guarding me that hasn’t played the whole game, so I felt I had the opportunity to take him,” Thomas said with a smile. “And he kind of forced me to my strong hand, so I just wanted to make a play and it happened to go in.”
The former Curtis High School and University of Washington star scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and also had seven assists as the Kings broke a four-game losing streak. Francisco Garcia scored 17 points for Sacramento in a game that included 16 ties and no lead bigger than seven points.
There was little doubt that Thomas would take the last shot. The message from coach Keith Smart: Don’t settle for a jumper.
“You’re going to get by his guy or get a foul. Or you can make a quick play,” Smart said. “I thought he did the right thing by driving the basket and getting his little floater. All that drill work he does every day and that little floater gave us a big win.”
Emeka Okafor scored a season-high 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and John Wall had 19 points and six assists for the Wizards, whose home winning streak ended at five games.
“I hope it does hurt us a little bit,” coach Randy Wittman said. “It stings.”
Wittman will get second-guessed for the way this one ended. After Seattle Prep graduate Martell Webster tied the game on a short jumper with 7.9 seconds to play, the coach figured the best way to stop Thomas was by putting in Temple, who played all of 13 seconds in the game — all in the final half-minute.
“I wanted to try something different. … We didn’t have anybody that could guard him,” Wittman said.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.