Tyreke Evans' Game-Winner From Midcourt Snaps Kings' Losing Streak

The Sacramento Kings may have the worst record in the league, their coach and general manager may be holding onto their jobs by a thread and their best player may be on the verge of sitting for a month or two with injury, but they'll always have this:



Beating the buzzer with a desperate heave from 50 feet away, Tyreke Evans finally gave the tortured fans at Arco Arena reason to celebrate. The 100-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies snapped the Kings' eight-game losing streak, and marked just the second win in the last 18 games.

Had Evans missed the last-second prayer, Wednesday's game -- a meaningless affair between two last-place teams -- would have been quickly forgotten. But by making the shot, Evans provided perhaps the most incredible ending to a game this year -- no matter what the sport.

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The Kings trailed by as many as nine points in the final quarter, but Evans set up his fantastic finish with a steal at midcourt with 18.9 seconds left followed by a driving dunk, which gave Sacramento the lead for the first time since early in the second half. O.J. Mayo's 22-footer with 1.5 seconds left helped the Grizzlies regain the lead, but only for a few moments until Evans could put the game on ice.

After the game, Evans, who finished the game with 21 points, expressed little surprise the shot went in.

"I think I'm the best on the team at doing it," he said. "We practice that at the shootaround in the morning sometimes and I'm glad we do that. It looked good but when it went in, that's when I knew it was good."

DeMarcus Cousins, who scored a career-high 21 points and tied his career mark with 16 rebounds, hopes this game can be a turning point for the struggling Kings.

"Man, it feels good to get a win," said Cousins. "Hopefully that can be the spark that we need. Just keep playing, keep working hard and we can turn this thing around."