Fox & Huerter Shine, But Kings Fall Short To Blazers In Opener

Oct 19, 2022, 10:31 PM | Updated: 10:34 pm

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 19: Josh Hart #11 of the Portland Trail Blazers drives on Harrison...

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

Opening Night at Golden 1 Center was full of energy and plenty of whistles on Wednesday night.

De’Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter’s impressive performances wouldn’t be enough as the Sacramento Kings fell short to the Portland Trail Blazers by a final of 115-108 in front of a sold-out crowd of 17,611.

Sacramento committed 25 personal fouls and sent the Blazers to the line 33 times during the loss as Portland’s 26 made free throws would act as the difference during the disappointing loss.

The Kings’ 4-0 preseason is now a footnote as a brutal opening stretch of the schedule will continue this weekend in the form of a home-road back-to-back against the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.

TD PUTBACK 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/3tzkRN3NyU

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 20, 2022

Sacramento’s impressive defensive performance from their perfect 4-0 run in preseason play did not carry over in the first quarter as four of the Kings’ starting five players picked up personal fouls early, including KZ Okpala’s three fouls over just eight minutes.

Portland took a 32-23 lead into the second as they took advantage of Sacramento’s sloppy defense (nine personal fouls in the first) by converting 11 of their 14 attempts from the free-throw line. Aside from De’Aaron Fox’s 10 points in the first, the Kings struggled on the offensive end as they shot just 30 percent from the field.

The struggles would continue into the second quarter for the Kings as their deficit grew as large as 14 before things began to take a turn midway through the period. Sacramento mounted an electric 16-1 run to regain the lead as Portland’s defense didn’t have an answer for the Kings’ three-point game.

Thanks to 18 first-half points from Fox and 10-for-23 (43%) shooting from beyond the arc as a team, the Kings were able to outscore the Blazers 32-19 during the second to take a 55-51 lead into the break.

16-1 run and the Kings take the lead! #RoarWithUS pic.twitter.com/C52KSKm8Bg

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) October 20, 2022

Sacramento’s improved play continued into the early moments of the third as Fox and Kevin Huerter helped push the lead to double-digits, but Portland was eventually able to erase the deficit by ending the period on an 18-8 run.

Although the Kings seemed to have snapped out of their early funk, Portland recovered from their own mishaps to tie things up at 84-84 entering the fourth.

Huerter got hot during the fourth quarter and went on a 5-0 run on his own to help the Kings keep pace during a back-and-forth affair with the Blazers as things remained gridlocked with three minutes to play. Sacramento’s one-point lead with less than a minute to go would be erased after Jerami Grant’s and-one lay-in gave Portland a 108-106 lead with 50 seconds to go.

One possession–and one defensive breakdown–later, Domantas Sabonis committed his sixth and final foul on another and-one, this time by Josh Hart, to push Portland’s lead to 111-106 and all but end the home-opener on a sour note.

There were plenty of questionable calls down the closing stretch, but you can’t pin it all on the zebras.

The Kings suffered back-to-back defensive breakdowns during the final second of the game that resulted in two sloppy fouls and six points in total. When it comes down to it, Sacramento had its chances and those two lapses gave Portland the game.

Outside of Fox’s huge opening night performance and a red-hot Kevin Huerter, there wasn’t much else going to the Kings offense. If you take away those two players’ contributions, Sacramento shot 19-of-52 (36%) from the field and six-of-26 (23%) from three-point range.

KEVIN. HUERTER. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Z7rCeGKxUR

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 20, 2022

The way that this roster is constructed, the Kings (obviously) will need more than just Fox and Huerter to lead the way going forward. Domantas Sabonis (13 points, five rebounds) had a quiet night offensively, and while Harrison Barnes corralled eight boards, his nine points on just eight shots weren’t a big help in giving the offense life down the stretch.

Basketball is a game of adjustments, and what we saw during Wednesday’s opener was two teams that traded off making tweaks to their strategies over 48 minutes of action. The Kings got punched in the mouth early, then recovered to build a double-digit lead near the end of the first half.

From that point on, Portland didn’t let themselves get beat on the perimeter by any Kings player not named Kevin Huerter.

It’s game one of 82, but this Kings team still has some hurdles to work through in the coming days during what is shaping up to be a brutal opening stretch of the season.

Takeaways

De’Aaron Fox looked unstoppable on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and converting five-of-eight attempts from beyond the three-point line to go along with seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals.

Fox fell just one made three-pointer short of tying his career-high of six, but the 24-year-old’s shot was on display during Wednesday’s loss.

Turnovers acted as a blemish on Fox’s strong stat line as the speedy guard finished the night with eight turnovers over 35 minutes. Fox said postgame that most of his turnovers were unforced, stating that he needs to clean it up personally and be more careful with the basketball.

De'Aaron starts the season with a three 💥 pic.twitter.com/AA4xeIF94p

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 20, 2022

Kevin Huerter had quite the Kings debut on Wednesday as the sharpshooter nearly tied his career-high of seven made three-point field goals.

Over 29 minutes of action, ‘Red Velvet’ knocked down seven of his nine attempts from beyond the arc to finish the night with 24 points, three rebounds, and one steal. Along with Fox, Huerter was one of the focal points of the offense on a night when some of Sacramento’s heavy lifters were struggling to find consistency.

As a team, the Kings shot 41% from three-point range, but a majority of those contributions came from Huerter and Fox.

KEVIN. HUERTER. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Z7rCeGKxUR

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) October 20, 2022

Domantas Sabonis struggled to create on the offensive end as the two-time All-Star had a tough time in the paint against Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic and forward Justise Winslow.

The 26-year-old finished the night with 13 points on just 10 field goal attempts as he wasn’t able to find his way to the rim late in regulation. Winslow most notably gave Sabonis trouble late, using his size to keep the bruising Lithuanian out of the paint down the final stretch of play in the fourth.

Injury Updates

Keegan Murray has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols and rejoined the team. Although the rookie forward participated in Wednesday morning’s shoot-around, he will have to log a full practice session before being cleared to play in games. Expect Murray to suit up for his debut on Saturday against Los Angeles or Sunday against Golden State.

Kevin Huerter returned to action after missing the final preseason game due to left ankle soreness.