Fox, Sabonis establish Sac-era records during win over Blazers
Feb 23, 2023, 10:44 PM
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
As soon as the Portland Trail Blazers ruled out Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant, one question crept into a majority of Sacramento Kings fans’ heads:
“Are we really going to lose another game to a team missing several key members of its rotation?”
The start to Thursday’s game at Golden 1 Center was heading in that direction as a short-handed, and travel-fatigued Blazers team jumped out to a 22-6 lead early in the first quarter. From that point on, Sacramento brought the hammer down.
De’Aaron Fox scored 20 of his 31 points during the second half, Domantas Sabonis racked up his seventh double-double of the season, and the Kings shook off a rough start en route to a 133-116 win over Portland.
With the win, Sacramento improved to 33-25 on the season while pulling within two games of the second-seed Memphis Grizzlies.
De'Aaron Fox dropped 31 PTS as the Kings picked up the home win 💪 pic.twitter.com/MK2pd7M2uE
— NBA (@NBA) February 24, 2023
It’s hard to say that the sluggish start to Thursday’s game was a surprise, but the Kings answered back accordingly during the second quarter.
After allowing Portland to score 37 points (the third-most points that they have scored in a first quarter this season) on 58 percent shooting during the first, Sacramento held the Blazers to 20 points (29 percent shooting) during the second while throwing up a 37-spot of their own.
Behind an 11-point effort from Fox in the second, the Kings outscored Portland 37-20 in the period as they took a 66-57 lead into the halftime break.
Sabonis, who had already established his league-leading 46th double-double of the season before the end of the first half, told the media postgame that he had faith Sacramento would bounce back from the rough start.
The three-time All-Star was spot on, as Sacramento never looked back after their dominant second quarter. Fox was a driving force in creating separation from a pesky Blazers team, as the speedy guard scored 20 of his 31 points during the second half.
Fox did so on a perfect six-of-six shooting from the field over just 12 minutes of play during the final two quarters.
My goodness, De'Aaron 😱 pic.twitter.com/6c35QMpFnH
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) February 24, 2023
Fox’s final basket of the night gave him 31 points–his fifth-straight game with 30+ points. No other player in the Sacramento era (1985-present) had done so, as Fox broke a four-way tie with DeMarcus Cousins, Chris Webber, and Mitch Richmond (four games) for the longest such streak in over 37 years.
The last player to score 30+ points in five-straight games? Nate ‘Tiny’ Archibald, who did so back in March of 1976 when the franchise was located in Kansas City.
With Fox leading the way and six other members of the Kings’ offense in double-figures, the game was all but put to bed before Sabons re-entered the game during the fourth quarter seeking two assists for his seventh triple-double of the season.
Sabonis secured his 10th assist on a dribble handoff to Malik Monk, who knocked down a mid-range jumper just as Chimezie Metu stood up from the bench and approached the scorer’s table to check in for the big man.
The triple-double was notable for Sabonis, as the 26-year-old surpassed Rajon Rondo (6) for the most triple-doubles during a single season in the Sacramento era.
“It’s awesome,” Sabonis said postgame when asked what the record means to him. “It shows how hard we are playing together as a team. It has nothing to do with me, my teammates are making those shots.”
Sabonis made it look easy against the Trail Blazers, scoring 18 points on six-of-11 shooting while pulling down 18 rebounds and handing out ten assists over 32 minutes.
Not only did Sabonis secure the triple-double, but he also received the Defensive Player of the Game chain for swiping three steals and helping Sacramento win the paint game (56-44) and control the boards (51-33).
Domas with the nifty footwork 🌀 pic.twitter.com/lylmkCRDzI
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) February 24, 2023
It was important for the Kings to come out and prove that they could:
- Defeat a team that was missing a ton of firepower
- Win games they ‘should’ win as Portland entered play with a sub-.500 record
- Protect home court with just 11 more home games remaining on the schedule
Check, check, and check.
On the first night of a back-to-back, Sacramento is in good standing after Thursday’s win, as Sabonis (32 minutes) was the only starter that logged more than 26 minutes during the win.
The Kings will need fresh legs on Friday night when they face a revamped Los Angeles Clippers team that has brought in veteran talents Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, and Mason Plumlee over the past week-plus as they aim to leapfrog Sacramento–among others–in the Western Conference standings.
Friday’s game will have massive implications as the Kings will hope to build on its current 1.5-game lead over the Clippers while taking control of the season series (currently tied 1-1).
Sacramento needed to come out of the break with a convincing, blowout win to get on the right track, and that’s precisely what they did against Portland.
Rounding Out The Box Score
All five of Sacramento’s starters finished the night in double-figures, as Harrison Barnes (15 points), Keegan Murray (10 points), and Kevin Huerter (10 points) chipped in to compliment Fox and Sabonis’ massive nights.
Terence Davis continued to raise his stock on Thursday as the ‘Microwave’ scored 20 points on four-of-five shooting from beyond the three-point line to go with four rebounds over only 18 minutes of action.
Davis has been a key piece off the bench over Sacramento’s past two weeks of action, as the 25-year-old has scored 10+ points in four of his last five appearances.
TD is up to 15 points off the bench 🎯 pic.twitter.com/nfKnpKOOGh
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) February 24, 2023
Malik Monk picked up right where he left off before his ankle injury, as the Kentucky product returned from a two-game absence and scored 15 points (six-of-10 shooting) over 21 minutes.
Next Game
See you all tomorrow.
Sacramento will play the second game of a back-to-back on Friday night when they face Russell Westbrook and the new-look Los Angeles Clippers at crypto.com Arena.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs. Clippers coverage right here on Sactown Sports 1140 beginning at 6:00 PM PST on Game Night with Scott Marsh and Henry ‘The High Flyer’ Turner.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
Friday, February 24th – Sacramento Kings @ Los Angeles Clippers – 7:30 PM PST
Sunday, February 26th – Sacramento Kings @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 4:00 PM PST
Tuesday, February 28th – Sacramento Kings @ Oklahoma City Thunder – 5:00 PM PST
Friday, March 3rd – Sacramento Kings vs. Los Angeles Clippers – 7:00 PM PST
Saturday, March 4th – Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7:00 PM PST
Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Frankie Cartoscelli is the Kings’ beat reporter for SactownSports.com. Follow Frankie on Twitter.
