Fox, Sabonis shine during nail-biting win over Raptors

Dec 14, 2022, 8:02 PM | Updated: Dec 15, 2022, 7:41 am

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 14: De'Aaron Fox #5, Domantas Sabonis #10, Malik Monk #0, and Keegan Murray ...

(Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Mike Brown had finally seen enough.

With 9:09 remaining in the third quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors, the Sacramento Kings head coach let his emotions towards the poor officiating surface in a big way as he approached the NBA officials at center court.

Brown let loose, relaying a few things to the refs that cannot be repeated in a family-friendly recap, before being ejected for the first time in his Kings career.

With Brown hitting the showers early and Sacramento facing a nine-point deficit in the third quarter, it would take a valiant closing effort if the Kings wanted to snap a two-game losing streak.

If the Kings wanted to win this game, De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis needed to come up big–together–down the final stretch, and that’s precisely what happened.

Fox looked like his usual self as the star guard knocked down multiple big shots late in the fourth, Domantas Sabonis posted his second 20-20 game of the season during Sacramento’s impressive 124-123 win over the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.

Brown’s tirade lit a fire under his team at the right time as the Kings (15-12) erased a 16-point deficit to pick up an impressive win over a very talented Toronto team–one that entered play as a top-10 defensive team in the league.

Domas puts the moves on Scottie Barnes pic.twitter.com/CFE2Kow1cp

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 15, 2022

Much like we saw from the Kings during the past two games in New York and Philadelphia, things looked bleak early in this one as Sacramento trailed by 16 points during the opening minutes of the second quarter.

After getting punched in the mouth for most of this six-game road trip, the Kings attempted to punch back and get back into the game, but some questionable calls on the defensive end and no-calls on the offensive end made that process difficult during the opening two-quarters of play.

The tides finally turned late in the first half as the Kings trimmed the deficit to 62-59 behind significant contributions from Terence Davis and Malik Monk off the bench.

Toronto and Sacramento were neck-and-neck for most of the second half, as neither team could stretch a lead past five points for most of the fourth quarter. Fox’s clutch bucket with 1:40 remaining put the Kings up 118-113 with 90 seconds remaining, but what came before the made shot was integral to the victory.

Sacramento, who has looked much more formidable on the defensive end over the past two weeks, held the Raptors to just three points from the 5:19 mark until the 1:21 mark of the fourth quarter.

As the age-old saying goes: Defense wins games.

This Kings team.

▪️15-12 (3 GB of #1 in the West)
▪️117.6 PTS/G (2nd in NBA)
▪️114.5 Offensive RTG (5th in NBA)
▪️+2.0 Net RTG (9th in NBA)

Fun times. pic.twitter.com/9Ta0XeMGBB

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) December 15, 2022

The win comes at a crucial time for the Kings as they had lost the past two games in ugly fashion, shooting just 24 percent from beyond the three-point arc during blowout losses in New York and Philadelphia.

Wednesday night’s game would include the return of Sacramento’s impressive offense as the Kings shot 48 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc to score 124 points–the most that they have scored in a game since December 3rd.

When you look at this win over Toronto, there were plenty of positive takeaways:

Fox & The Ox Get It Done

When De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are both locked in, great things happen for the Sacramento Kings.

Fox, who missed two games of the past three games due to foot soreness, looked unbothered during the win as the guard scored 27 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out 10 assists over 41 minutes of action. The speedy guard scored eight of his points during the fourth quarter, only trailing Sabonis’ 10 fourth-quarter points as both players took over when it mattered most.

De'Aaron with the clutch bucket in transition pic.twitter.com/5YDAI5E8Q8

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 15, 2022

Speaking of Sabonis: The Ox continued to prove why he deserves to be an All-Star shoo-in come February.

Sabonis posted his second 20-20 game of the season (most in the NBA) as the center finished the night with 21 points, 20 rebounds, seven assists, and one blocked shot while shooting 10-of-13 from the field over 40 minutes.

Even though Toronto’s strong defense tried to make a point of taking Sabonis out of the game by double and triple teaming the big man whenever he had the ball for most of the night, Sabonis found his teammates and cleaned up around the glass to help lead his team to a much-needed win.

Sacramento was converting from three-point range on Wednesday, meaning that Sabonis’ passes weren’t going to waste, unlike the past two games.

Sabonis tied Chris Webber for the Sacramento era (1985-present) lead in games with 20+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 5+ assists with his third game of the kind during his short time in a Kings uniform.

TD & Monk To The Rescue

The Kings needed some players other than Fox and Sabonis to step up on Wednesday night.

Malik Monk answered the call in a big way as the Kentucky product scored 24 points on five-of-10 shooting from three-point land to go along with three assists over 33 minutes.

Terence Davis, who was starting in place of an injured Kevin Huerter, scored 19 points on seven-of-14 shooting from the field and five-of-12 from beyond the arc over just 25 minutes as Sacramento greatly benefited from the duo’s contributions.

Monk scored 24 of the Kings’ 35 bench points, while Davis had a large part in keeping Sacramento in the game when Toronto was on the verge of stretching its double-digit lead into an insurmountable amount.

TD got UP for the board pic.twitter.com/DjC7aHeVno

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 15, 2022

Brown Gets Tossed

Here it is, in all of its glory.

Mike Brown was ejected after this call … pic.twitter.com/57UBlyToqL

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 15, 2022

Malik Monk said it best postgame: “We did it for him.”

Injury Updates

Kevin Huerter (ankle soreness) missed Wednesday’s game after initially being labeled as a game-time decision. Huerter’s injury is not considered severe and is considered day-to-day going forward.

Alex Len (non-COVID illness) was inactive for Wednesday’s game in Toronto and is considered day-to-day.

Postgame Show

Check out our Sactown Sports Kings Recap Show on the Sactown Sports 1140 YouTube channel!

Sactown Sports Kings Recap Shows will be happening all season long, immediately following each Kings game!

Next Game

Sacramento will conclude its six-game road trip on Friday evening when they face Marvin Bagley III and the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

Get all of your Kings vs. Pistons coverage on Sactown Sports 1140 starting at 2:30 pm PST on Game Night before action tips off at 4:00 pm PST from ‘The Motor City’.