LOS ANGELES _ Kings center Harry Giles III had to bide his time when he was relegated to the end of the bench earlier in the season, but now he's finding a little time to shine.
Giles recorded his first career double-double Saturday, posting 14 points and 12 rebounds to help the Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-103 at Staples Center. Giles put the game out of reach when he threw down an alley-oop dunk on a pick-and-roll lob from Bogdan Bogdanovic to give Sacramento an eight-point lead with 58.1 seconds remaining.
"Good to seal the deal," Giles said. "It was a good moment."
The Kings were left for dead in the Western Conference playoff race when they lost 15 of 18 during a dreadful stretch in December and January, but now they've won eight of 12 to move within five games of the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies with 26 games remaining. The odds against the Kings are seemingly insurmountable, but earlier this week Giles made it clear they still hope to end the NBA's longest postseason drought after 13 consecutive losing seasons.
"Hell yeah," he said. "We ain't playing for no reason."
Giles, 21, is facing an uncertain future in Sacramento, but he's reveling in the moment. The Kings declined to pick up Giles' option for the 2020-21 season in October after he came into training camp with knee soreness, which sidelined him at the start of the season.
League sources have told The Sacramento Bee the Kings still love Giles and remain open to the possibility of re-signing him as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but other teams could outbid Sacramento. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Kings can only offer $3.97 million in the first year of a new deal with maximum eight-percent annual raises after the first year.
Giles participated in only seven of the team's first 32 games while Richaun Holmes emerged as the starting center and Dewayne Dedmon, the team's big free-agent acquisition over the summer, struggled to maintain a backup role. Kings coach Luke Walton repeatedly said Giles would get another opportunity at some point in the season, and now he has.
Holmes has been out for weeks with a shoulder injury and the Kings sent Dedmon back to the Atlanta Hawks on the eve of the trade deadline in exchange for Jabari Parker and Alex Len. Until Saturday, when Len made his Kings debut against the Clippers, Giles was the only healthy center on the roster, but he said he hasn't felt any added pressure to perform.
"All that pressure s _ _ y'all talking? I'm good," Giles said. "Pressure makes diamonds, baby, so I ain't got none of that. I done seen it all. I'm ready to rock."
Giles has appeared in 23 of the past 24 games and started six of the last eight. In February, he is averaging 8.9 points and 5.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game. He has also demonstrated his remarkable passing and playmaking abilities. Walton said Giles is in better shape than he's been since the start of the season.
"He's moving much better now," Walton said. "He's out there calling coverages. He's out there at the level, backing up, rebounding the ball. He's doing all the things that we love about Harry. He looks like, physically, he's in the best place I've seen him since I've been the coach here, and his skill set, as far as his passing and rebounding and toughness, that's something we need."
Walton has challenged Giles to defend without fouling, something he has struggled with at times early in his career. Giles said increased minutes have helped him grow more comfortable with that task.
"I think with time and reps I'm going to get better," Giles said. "I'm going to keep getting better. You know how the fouls go. It varies depending on how you're going to play and depending on how the refs are going to let you play, too, so I'm going to keep getting better at that and just playing hard."
Kings fans have developed a special fondness for Giles while watching him work his way back from a series of serious injuries to both knees. Few players evoke the same kind of response from the crowd.
Giles had to endure some low moments earlier this season and so did his team, but now they're enjoying a bit of a resurgence.
"We're on a better path so we're going to rock with the future now," Giles said. "Forget the past. I ain't looking back."
