Fox, Haliburton Lead Kings To Third-Straight Win
Dec 8, 2021, 9:52 PM | Updated: Dec 9, 2021, 2:09 pm
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Sacramento’s starting backcourt set the tone during Wednesday night’s win over Orlando
There is plenty of basketball to be played this season, and the Sacramento Kings are beginning to put things together at a very ideal time.
De’Aaron Fox scored 33 points, Tyrese Haliburton posted another double-double, Harrison Barnes looked strong in his return to the floor and the Kings scored a season-high 142 points during Wednesday night’s 142-130 win over the Orlando Magic at Golden 1 Center.
Sacramento moves into the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings after picking up their third-straight win and fifth over their past seven contests.
In his first minutes of action in over two weeks, Harrison Barnes made his presence known early on Wednesday.
The veteran forward scored eight points on three-of-four shooting in the first to compliment De’Aaron Fox (nine points) and Marvin Bagley III (eight points)as the team’s primary contributors in first quarter. Sacramento took a 38-36 lead into the second quarter after shooting an impressive 62-percent from the field and 50-percent from three-point range.
While the Kings offense was clicking in the first half, the defense was unable to do their part in slowing down the uncharacteristically red-hot Magic.
Orlando, who came into Wednesday’s game averaging 100.4 points per game (28th in the NBA), scored 67 points in the first half on 55-percent shooting from the field and 53-percent shooting from three-point land.
Sacramento was able to take a 70-67 lead into the break, but it was hard to feel anything but dissatisfaction as they only led by three after a strong half from the offensive side of the basketball.
The Kings offense came out swinging to open up the second half, going on a 24-11 run to give themselves their biggest lead of the night at 94-78 with 5:09 remaining in the third.
While Orlando would answer the run with some timely scoring to keep things from getting out of hand, Sacramento was able to take a 104-92 advantage into the fourth quarter as they eyed a third-straight win.
With the game needing to be put out of reach, it was as if the Kings took a page out of Major League Baseball by calling in their closer–except in this case, Sacramento went with two closers to put this one away.
De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton took over down the stretch to put Orlando away and give the Kings their third-straight win in front of a lively Golden 1 Center crowd of 14,364.
Although the defense was bad for both sides, the Kings were able to take care of home court and put the finishing touches on a brief, but successful two-game home-stand. Sacramento will now set its sights on a three-game road-trip beginning on Friday night in Charlotte.
Rounding Out The Box Score
Tyrese Haliburton posted his third double-double of the season on Wednesday in one of the young guard’s most impressive performances of his career.
Haliburton scored 17 points on five-of-six shooting from three-point land to go along with 11 assists, three steals and two blocks. While the assists were impressive, the fact that the 21-year-old only turned the ball just twice–one turnover being a travel in the first quarter–during his 38 minutes of action is simply phenomenal.
De’Aaron Fox topped the 20-point mark for the 11th time this season, scoring a game-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, two-of-two from three-point range and seven-of-eight from the free-throw line.
The talented guard was able to focus on scoring the basketball while Haliburton took on the role of distributor in a balanced attack from the Kings backcourt.
Sacramento is 10-4 this season when the franchise guard scores at least 18 points.
Harrison Barnes had a solid return to action during the win, scoring 16 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing three assists over 30 minutes of action. Following the game, Barnes said that he felt fine and had no limitations during his time on the floor.
Rookie guard Davion Mitchell had his offense working on Wednesday, leading the bench with 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with four assists over 24 minutes. Marvin Bagley added 12 points and six rebounds, while Tristan Thompson tallied his first double-double as a King with 14 points and 10 rebounds over 21 minutes.
Terence Davis started once again and didn’t squander the opportunity, as the young guard scored 16 points on six-of-11 shooting while also pulling down five rebounds and dishing three assists.
Davis has scored 13 points or more in five of the past six games.
Injury Updates
- Richaun Holmes suffered a blow to the face from Magic center Mo Bamba during a shot attempt midway through the second quarter. The 28-year-old immediately exited the game with a bloodied face and went to the Kings locker room. Holmes will miss the next two games and is expected to be re-evaluated on Monday.
- Harrison Barnes (right foot sprain) returned to action on Wednesday after missing the past five games.
- Moe Harkless (left knee soreness) was listed as questionable before the Kings took the floor against the Magic before head coach Alvin Gentry told the media that the forward would return after a four-game absence. Following the game, Gentry told the media that the team wanted to give Harkless “one more day” off of his feet, hence his DNP-CD.
Coming Up
Sacramento will embark on a three-game road trip beginning on Friday night in Charlotte where they will take on a Hornets team that has been recently affected by a COVID-19 outbreak.
Starters LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee–along with role-players Ish Smith and Jaden McDaniels–are expected to be unavailable on Friday due to Health & Safety Protocols.
The Kings enjoyed their largest margin of victory so far this season when facing Charlotte at Golden 1 Center back on November 5th when a 23-point, 20-rebound double-double from Richaun Holmes paced a 140-110 blowout win.
You can find all of your Kings vs Hornets coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK starting at 2:30pm PST on on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry βThe High Flyerβ Turner at prior to a 4:00pm PST tip-off from North Carolina.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- December 10th @ Charlotte Hornets
- December 11th @ Cleveland Cavaliers
- December 13th @ Toronto Raptors
- December 15th vs Washington Wizards
- December 17th vs Memphis Grizzlies
