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Evans' miracle shot sends Kings over Grizzlies

Dec 30, 2010 - 8:38 AM Sacramento, CA (Sports Network) - Tyreke Evans made a desperation heave from beyond midcourt at the buzzer, and Sacramento snapped an eight-game skid with a dramatic 100-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

O.J. Mayo drained a fadeway jumper with 1.5 seconds left, hitting what looked like the game-winning shot for the Grizzlies.

But Evans took the ball to about 10 feet before midcourt, glided into the air and let fly a shot that hit nothing but net for the win. Fans who stood while the shot was in the air exploded when it went in.

Evans jumped onto the scorer's table, celebrating, then waited for the referees to confirm the shot was good. Replays clearly showed it was.

"I just tried to get it off in time," said Evans. "We practice that at the shootaround in the morning sometimes and I'm glad we do that."

Evans finished the game with 21 points, Beno Udrih added 24 points and six assists while DeMarcus Cousins scored 21 and had 16 rebounds for the Kings, who won for the first time since defeating Washington on December 8.

"You can never figure a miracle shot like Tyreke made, but I think we deserved it," said Kings head coach Paul Westphal.

Zach Randolph had a game-high 35 points and 17 rebounds and Rudy Gay added 16 points for the Grizzlies, who have dropped four of their last six.

Memphis held an 89-82 lead with 4:48 left after a Mayo free throw, but Sacramento chipped away at the deficit and two free throws from Evans and Cousins tied the contest at 93 with 57.6 seconds to play.

Randolph then drove the lane and put in a bucket with 39.6 seconds left and after Evans missed a jumper, Mike Conley grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 31.3 seconds to play.

Conley managed to make one of his two shots and Cousins countered with a short jumper with 26.2 ticks left.

Off the timeout, the initial inbounds pass was tipped out by Sacramento and the second wound up getting stolen by Evans, who went the other way for the slam and a one-point lead with 16.4 seconds left.

Gay missed a jumper, but the ball went out of bounds prior to Mayo's jumper, setting up Evans' heroics.

Memphis held a slim 27-24 lead after 12 minutes of play and that was trimmed to 51-50 at the break.

An 8-0 run in the latter stages of the third quarter put Memphis up by nine points, 69-60, after Gay hit a free throw with 2:19 remaining in the quarter, but Sacramento got the next six points to cut into the deficit and Pooh Jeter's jumper towards the end of the frame cut the deficit to 74-70 going into the fourth.

Game Notes

Memphis plays in Utah on New Year's Day...Sacramento also plays on New Year's Day in Denver...Memphis had won three straight against Sacramento coming into the game...Mayo had 10 points and six rebounds in the game...Memphis made 43.7 percent of its shots while Sacramento connected on 46.1 percent.