National Basketball Association

Kings 96, Clippers 94

Published Oct. 20, 2010 7:33 a.m. ET

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Tyreke Evans scored 17 points, including a go-ahead driving layup with 1.9 seconds to play, and the Sacramento Kings overcame an early 19-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 96-94 on Tuesday night in a preseason game.

Clippers center Chris Kaman fouled out with on an offensive charge in the lane that nullified a potential go-ahead layup by teammate Randy Foye with 2:28 remaining and the score tied at 87. Rookie forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who scored 15 points for Los Angeles, hit a tying 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 22.5 seconds left, and Kings coach Paul Westphal called time out to set up one final play that resulted in Evans' game-winner.

''My first instinct was to not pass the ball,'' last season's rookie of the year said. ''I didn't want overtime, so the one thing I wanted to do with that play was to go to the basket and try to get a layup. I'm confident, and Coach wanted the ball in my hands.''

Kaman finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers (1-7), who lost their final six preseason games. Their only win came against Sacramento (3-3), a 120-88 rout at Arco Arena. They had a 6-2 exhibition record last year, but it didn't translate into a successful season as they went 29-53 - their 16th losing record in 17 years.

''If we keep working and being professional and doing the things we're supposed to, we'll have our opportunity to win some games. How many, I don't know. I don't ever put a number on things, because it's an impossible question to answer,'' Clippers new coach Vinny Del Negro added. ''But the more we win, the happier everybody is, the easier the travel is and the better the food tastes. But you've got to put the work in, and we've just started this process.

''I like our talent level, but we're very young and we've got to control mistakes,'' Del Negro added. ''Every team wants to make the playoffs and everyone wants to say the right things before the season starts. Like most teams, we need to have the luxury of not having any key injuries.''

The Clippers opened the game with a 27-8 run and never trailed until Beno Udrih converted a three-point play to put Sacramento ahead 82-81 with 8:14 left,'' Westphal said. ''We were just horrible in the first quarter and came out just like that at the start of the second. After that wakeup call, I thought we played well.''

Clippers forward Brian Cook received a technical foul from referee Mark Lindsay late in the first quarter after he fouled Darnell Jackson on an attempted layup. Cook glared at Lindsay and slapped both hands, demonstrating to him that he got all ball - but those theatrics are no longer tolerated by officials under the league's new policy about excessive complaining.

''I thought I got the top of the ball, but the ref made a call and I got a little emotional - which I've been trying not to do this year because of the new rules they put in,'' said Cook, who is beginning his eighth NBA season. ''The union came in and told us that they were going to start calling it. You can't get emotional, and that's what happened, so they Teed me up and I paid the consequences.

''I went and apologized to the ref afterward,'' Cook added. ''I told him it was an emotional play and I worked hard for it, and he told said: 'Just keep on playing hard.' As a veteran player, it's something I've got to lay back from. Obviously, it started a chain of events.''

Teammate DeAndre Jordan, who missed the previous three games because of a sore right hamstring, got a technical less than 1 1/2 minutes into the second quarter from Derek Richardson after picking up his third personal in a 2:13 span. Just 50 seconds later, Sacramento rookie DeMarcus Cousins got one after fouling Cook on a successful layup.

Del Negro rested ''redshirted'' rookie forward Blake Griffin for the second straight game. There would be no reprise of a year ago, when Griffin - the first overall pick in the 2009 draft - sustained a stress fracture of his left knee cap in the Clippers' final exhibition game and missed the entire season.

The former Oklahoma star and 2008-09 AP college player of the year underwent surgery in January after a few fruitless and frustrating months of rehab, and his knee looks as good as new. In the six games he did play before tweaking his left ankle in Saturday's loss to Denver, Griffin averaged a team-high 17.3 points and 12.3 rebounds in his six preseason games.

Del Negro also gave the night off to starting forward Ryan Gomes, who sat out his first game of the preseason and is experiencing tendinitis in his knee. Shooting guard Eric Gordon had seven points in 16 minutes before sitting out the second half with a sprained right ankle.

Notes: Baron Davis had 15 points and eight assists for the Clippers. ... Sacramento concludes its exhibition schedule Friday night at Utah before opening the season with a three-game road trip through Minnesota, New Jersey and Cleveland. ... The Clippers open this season next Wednesday at Staples Center against Portland. ... The Kings lost 11 of their final 12 games last season. The only win came against the Clippers by 22 points.