Fox, Lyles come up big in Kings’ OT win over Timberwolves

Jan 30, 2023, 8:44 PM | Updated: 8:50 pm

The Sacramento Kings Domantas Sabonis holds back De'Aaron Fox as he reacts to a foul call in the fo...

(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

De’Aaron Fox does some of his best work during the fourth quarter, but overtime belongs to Trey Lyles.

With Domantas Sabonis having fouled out during the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, the Sacramento Kings needed somebody else to step up on Monday night in Minnesota.

Lyles answered the call in a big way as the forward scored eight of his 11 points during overtime as the Kings were able to outlast the Timberwolves by a final of 118-111 at Target Center.

With the win, Sacramento improved to 28-21 on the season and 12-11 on the road. Last year, the Kings didn’t secure its 28th victory until March 30th– the regular season’s closing days.

As we continue to learn about this Kings team, one thing is clear: A lot can change in one year.

Lyles SLAMS it with Gobert all over him 😤 pic.twitter.com/CVO3bfXw4t

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 31, 2023

After an abysmal start to the game from three-point land, the Kings finally found a rhythm from deep during the second half.

Sacramento was one-of-14 (7%) from deep during the first half, but shots started falling at the right time for players like Fox, Terence Davis, and Keegan Murray. While triples began to finally fall for a sluggish Kings offense, a familiar villain acted as a thorn in the defense’s side once again: Anthony Edwards.

The former number-one overall pick continued to give Sacramento’s offense fits as Edwards followed up Saturday’s 34-point outing against the Kings with 33 points on Monday.

Edwards scored eight points during the fourth quarter to help give Minnesota a 98-95 lead with less than two minutes to go, but this is the fourth quarter that we’re talking about, and that quarter belongs to De’Aaron Fox.

Fox answered Edwards’ output by scoring eight points of his own during the fourth–all during the final 2:36 of play–to put the Kings in position to secure the W.

But then, disaster struck.

Domantas Sabonis walked to the tunnel to calm down after he was given a technical foul pic.twitter.com/U6CazCsfZN

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 31, 2023

Minutes after Domantas Sabonis was seemingly ejected from the game after being assessed with a technical foul (it was later discovered that Sabonis entered the tunnel to calm down), the big man fouled out with 51.1 seconds remaining and the Kings leading 103-100.

After Fox missed a jumper on the other end, Sacramento blew a defensive rotation that allowed T-Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels to take his tame before letting a game-tying triple fly with 13 seconds to go.

The Kings came up empty on their game-winning attempt at the buzzer, meaning that if this team was going to win, they would have to do so in overtime without their All-Star big.

Not a problem.

Lyles and Murray opened up overtime with back-to-back triples to jumpstart Sacramento’s offense, and an and-one jam from Lyles put the Kings up 112-106 with 2:48 remaining–a lead that they would not give up.

Thanks to solid play from Lyles, Malik Monk, and Terence Davis, Sacramento was able to move past the loss of Sabonis and pull out a gritty win against a Minnesota team that entered play having won 11 of its past 16 games.

Fox had another All-Star-esque performance on Monday, as the guard scored 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting over 41 minutes. One critique of Fox’s game on Saturday was that the 25-year-old should try to contribute earlier in the game rather than save all of his baskets for the fourth quarter.

During the win over the Timberwolves, Fox scored 13 of his 32 points during the first half while setting the tone on offense with his noted quickness.

Monk–Fox’s college backcourt mate at Kentucky–had the slump-busting performance he had been waiting for, as the guard scored 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting to go along with five assists over 32 minutes. With Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes struggling on offense, Sacramento needed significant contributions from its bench, and Monk was there when the team needed him most.

Malik comes up HUGE pic.twitter.com/gKCEIYgsDd

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 31, 2023

Monk’s impact on the defensive end helped change the momentum in this one as well, as the 24-year-old swiped three steals during the second half–two coming during the overtime period.

Alongside Monk in the second unit, Terence Davis provided the Kings with some much-needed energy during the second half. Davis scored 6 points and drilled two triples during the third quarter to help bring Sacramento back from a double-digit deficit while swiping a steal of his own during crunch time.

The defense played a huge role in the Kings’ latest win as Sacramento finished the night with a season-high 15 steals. The Kings locked in during overtime, holding Minnesota to just eight points on three-of-nine (33%) shooting from the field and one-of-seven (14%) from deep.

Fox did his job. Sabonis posted another double-double. The bench stepped up. The defense was there when the team needed stops.

Was it pretty? No, of course not. Sacramento finished the game having shot just 30 percent from beyond the arc, but it’s about the adjustments that were made along the way:

Sacramento from 3PT during the 1st half: 1/14 (7%)

Sacramento from 3PT during the 2nd half: 8/16 (50%)

The Western Conference is getting tighter with each passing day, and splitting the two-game set in Minnesota is essential for a Kings team that is hoping to stay the course of being a top-six team in the standings once the season ends. Only 3.5 games separate the Kings from the 10th-seed Utah Jazz, meaning that every game is important for this group.

If Sacramento can continue to limit the damage when running into losing streaks, they will be just fine.

After dropping three of four and two in a row, the Kings got back on track with a win before continuing the road trip with three-straight games against the bottom two teams in the West (San Antonio and Houston).

Notes

Keegan Murray posted his third double-double of the season, as the rookie finished the night with 13 points (3/8 from 3PT), 13 rebounds, and one steal over 38 minutes.

Since being challenged by head coach Mike Brown to hit the glass more aggressively, Murray has turned into one of the better rebounders on the team. Murray matched the NBA’s rebounding king in Sabonis on the boards during the win.

Speaking of Domantas Sabonis, the likely third-time All-Star posted his NBA-leading 38th double-double of the season against the Timberwolves: 17 points (7/10 FG), 13 rebounds, and two blocks over 36 minutes.

NBA Double-Double Leaders

Domantas Sabonis – 38
Nikola Jokic – 33
Julius Randle – 31
Giannis Antetokounmpo & Bobby Portis – 29

Sacramento, who has struggled to contain the paint all season long, outscored Minnesota 68-50 in the paint during the win.

Harrison Barnes was the recipient of tonight’s Defensive Player of the Game chain.

your 𝟑𝐗 𝐃𝐏𝐎𝐆, @hbarnes 😤🏅 pic.twitter.com/T4DdnPO0P2

— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) January 31, 2023

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Next Game

Sacramento will continue a seven-game road trip on Wednesday night when they face the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center for the second time over the past two weeks.

Back on January 15, the Kings secured a 132-119 win in San Antonio thanks to 29 points from Harrison Barnes and an 18-point, 18-rebound performance from Domantas Sabonis.

Be sure to get all of your Kings vs. Spurs coverage on Sactown Sports 1140 starting at 3:30 pm PST on Game Night before action tips off at 5:00 pm PST.