Clarkson Outshines Fox As Kings Drop Fourth-Straight
Mar 12, 2022, 8:30 PM | Updated: 8:44 pm
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
De’Aaron Fox scored 41 points on Saturday, but Sacramento was unable to contain the Utah offense
Even without All-Star center Rudy Gobert and talented guard Mike Conley, the Utah Jazz proved that they have a plan for nights that they are shorthanded:
Jordan Clarkson.
The 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year award winner outgunned De’Aaron Fox on Saturday night, finishing with a career-high 45 points as the Jazz were able to erase a slow start to claim a 134-125 win over the Sacramento Kings at Vivint Arena on Saturday night.
Fox turned in another incredible performance, but Clarkson, Donovan Mitchell, and Bojan Bogdanovic provided Utah with plenty of offense while handing the Kings its fourth-straight loss.
Sacramento (24-45) climbed to within 0.5 games of the fifth spot in NBA Draft Lottery positioning with 13 games left in the regular season.
Here are some quick thoughts and observations from Kings vs Jazz:
Fun first quarter–otherwise, not so much fun
Sacramento set the tone early behind a red-hot offense as the Kings established a new season-high for points scored in a first-quarter by tossing a 42-spot on the board following 12 minutes of play.
We have seen the Kings look very Jekyll & Hyde to start games as of late, either going up big or falling into a double-digit hole before fans get fully settled into their seats.
On Saturday, the offense thrived behind an impressive showing from De’Aaron Fox and some much-needed three-point shooting (six-of-10 during the first quarter).
As fun as the first quarter was, the Jazz would go on to outscore Sacramento 63-46 during the second and third quarters.
The Kings bench made things interesting for a brief moment in the fourth as they trimmed Utah’s lead to 113-108 with just over six minutes to play, but Bogdanovic’s triple extended the lead back into double-digits with four minutes to go, a fatal blow that ensured another Kings loss.
Utah is one of the better teams in the league, it was clear that adjustments were made following Sacramento’s red-hot start. Besides De’Aaron Fox’s stellar performance, there wasn’t much to be happy about on Saturday–especially not the horrific defense.
De’Aaron Fox
Speaking of Fox…
The guard’s historic run continued on Saturday night.
Fox opened things up by establishing a new career-high for points scored in a first quarter, pouring in 20 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field and four-of-five from beyond the arc to go along with four assists.
The 20-point effort was the most points scored by a Kings player during a single quarter this season.
Over 41 minutes of play, Fox finished with 41 points on 15-of-32 shooting from the field and five-of-11 shooting from beyond the three-point line while dishing out 11 assists.
Saturday’s game marked the second time that Fox has scored 40+ points over his past four games, and was also just the second time in the guard’s five-year career that he has finished a game with at least 40 points and 10 assists.
Fox has scored 20+ points in 15-straight games, a mark that only a handful of players in the NBA have surpassed this season:
The confidence in Fox’s game is very noticeable right now, as the 24-year-old is in the midst of the best stretch of basketball of his career.
Although the Kings continue to lose games, it’s hard to point any fingers at Fox, who has nearly averaged 30 points per game on 50-percent shooting from the field and 40-percent shooting from three-point range over the past month of play.
Shoot it, HB!
With Domantas Sabonis sidelined for the second-straight game, the Kings needed Harrison Barnes to show some aggression.
Barnes finished the night with 18 points on seven-of-12 shooting from the field, which by all means isn’t a bad showing–but for this Kings team, it isn’t enough when it comes to securing wins.
12 field goal attempts is a number that the 29-year-old often hovers around, having taken 12 field goal attempts or less in 12 of his past 14 games.
Since January 22nd, Barnes is averaging 19.4 points per game on 51-percent shooting from the field and 43-percent shooting from three-point land.
Alvin Gentry has said many times that Barnes has the green light to shoot more, but we have rarely seen the veteran forward post games with 16+ field goal attempts since the first four games of the regular season.
The Return–and ejection–of Richaun Holmes
Following a two-game absence due to personal reasons, Richaun Holmes returned on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
The 28-year-old scored seven points–the most points that he has scored in a game since February 5th–and grabbed six rebounds over 23 minutes of play. When Holmes was on the floor, he looked more like himself from earlier this season in a limited showing.
Holmes was ejected at the end of the third quarter for just the third time in his career.
In his return to game action following a two-game absence–and just his second game since February 17th–Holmes hit the showers early on Saturday.
The Streak Continues
If you believe in due, the Sacramento Kings are very, very due to beat the Utah Jazz one of these days.
Following Saturday’s loss, the Kings saw its losing streak vs Utah extend to eight games. Sacramento’s last win against the Jazz took place on November 1, 2019.
Injury Report
- Domantas Sabonis was inactive on Saturday due to personal reasons.
- Terence Davis will be re-evaluated in two months after undergoing successful surgery to repair a right wrist ECU tendon injury.
Coming Up
Can you believe it? We’re about to begin the final home-stand of the season, and this one is a doozy.
Sacramento will begin a tough week at home on Monday night when they face a dangerous Chicago Bulls team that is thriving behind the stellar play of MVP-candidate DeMar DeRozan.
In the only meeting between the two teams this season, Chicago used a big fourth quarter from DeRozan to pick up a 125-118 win back on February 16th at United Center.
Be sure to get all of your Kings vs Bulls coverage right here on Sports 1140 KHTK beginning at 3:00 pm PST on The Nick Cattles Show before a 7:00 pm PST tip-off from downtown Sacramento.
Upcoming Sacramento Kings Schedule
- March 14th vs Chicago Bulls
- March 16th vs Milwaukee Bucks
- March 18th vs Boston Celtics
- March 20th vs Phoenix Suns
- March 23rd @ Indiana Pacers
