Sacramento Kings Beat the Bad Luck Bulls

The Sacramento Kings were coming off a surprise win over one of the best teams in the league, the New Orleans Hornets, and had to be feeling pretty good about themselves.

The Bulls, on the other hand, had not played since Wednesday and honestly haven't felt good about much lately.

Ron Artest had 28 and made a crucial basket late in the 4th quarter to lead the Kings past the Bulls. Ben Gordon had 33 points in 10-19 shooting and went 10-10 from the free throw line to help boost his league leading 92% average in a losing effort.  Kevin Martin had 26 to go towards the victory.

The Bulls had oppurtunity after oppurtunity down the stretch but simply could not get it together. Both teams played well in the first half, with the Kings leading 63-60 at the break.

The 3rd quarter was an entirely different story.

Both teams were sluggish, as the Bulls only managed 3 field goals in the entire 3rd quarter.  Chicago's first came on a Kirk Hinrich jumper with 10:00 on the clock, their next was at 9:07 on a Thabo Sefolosha jumper and their final FG of the period came 5:37 later on a Ben Wallace dunk. In total, the Bulls only scored 17 points in the 3rd but only trailed by one entering the 4th, 78-77.

In the 4th quarter, Ben Gordon made the decision to take over the game. Gordon had a Kobe-esque performance, scoring 17 points including 3 pointers. The Bulls went on a 15-6 run capped off by a Ben Gordon 3 to take their first lead since the closing minutes of the 2nd quarter when they led 54-53.

The lead did not last for long.  The Kings went on a rally to win, highlighted by Ron Artest's reverse dunk to put the nail in the coffin for Sacramento. Artest blew past rookie Joakim Noah for the jam to bring home the victory in front of the home crowd at Arco Arena.