109 points in 24 hours: De’Aaron Fox continues to add to his Kings legacy

Nov 17, 2024, 12:12 PM | Updated: 12:29 pm

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

De’Aaron Fox is no stranger to demanding the attention of the opposition.

Since arriving in Sacramento as a fresh-faced 19-year-old in 2017 as the fifth-overall NBA Draft pick out of Kentucky, the most enticing aspect of Fox’s game was his ability to score the basketball.

During his lone season at Kentucky, Fox and current Sacramento Kings teammate Malik Monk were the driving forces behind a Wildcats team that fell two points short of a Final Four appearance. Since that season in Kentucky, expectations have been high for Fox.

Fox arrived in Sacramento at a volatile time. The franchise was in the midst of picking up the pieces from the trade of former franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins. A head-coaching carousel had featured six coaching changes over the seven seasons leading into Fox’s rookie year.

To many, the Kings were a joke. After essentially outright owning one of the eight Western Conference playoff spots during the late 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s, Sacramento had failed to clinch a postseason berth since 2006—an 11-year drought at the time of Fox’s NBA debut.

That drought would continue in the coming years, but it wouldn’t affect Fox’s growth. Fox overcame early struggles from the mid-range and three-point line during his initial seasons to become the Kings’ leading scorer during the 2019-20 season, a year that was capped off with a then-career-high 39-point performance in the NBA Bubble.

Fox’s 39-point outing acted as a sign of what was to come for Sacramento–and looking back, it was as clear as day that a flip had switched in the young guard’s game.

Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Fox has been one of the premier scoring guards in the NBA.

Not only has Fox averaged 25.3 points per game over the past five seasons, but he’s also improved his three-point shooting (an aspect of his game that many referred to as a weakness), shooting 36 percent from deep over the past season-plus.

During the 2023-24 campaign, Fox increased his volume from beyond the arc to a career-high 7.8 attempts per game, and he did so with a high success rate. Fox was one of 20 players to shoot 36 percent or better on 500 or more attempts from three-point range, and the guard finished 16th in made triples on the NBA leaderboard.

Knocking down the long ball has lifted Fox into the All-Star and All-NBA-caliber talent pool that he is in today, but what makes Fox such a dynamic player is his ability to slice and dice his way into the paint.

Fox was more selective in his driving and paint-attacking tendencies in 2023-24, sometimes choosing to take the step-back triple or deep mid-range jumper. With mid-range expert DeMar DeRozan now on the Sacramento roster, there has seemingly been less pressure on Fox to get into the paint and look to draw contact from opposing defenses.

This week, the Kings were put in a tough spot as DeRozan (back tightness) and fellow offensive hub Malik Monk (ankle sprain) were sidelined for Sacramento’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

It wasn’t rocket science for Minnesota. No DeRozan or Monk. Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter aren’t top-shelf self-creators. Domantas Sabonis isn’t a high-volume scoring threat. The task was to slow down Fox–but that didn’t happen.

All-Defensive Second Team wing Jaden McDaniels and talented on-ball defender Anthony Edwards had no chance of slowing down Fox, who seemingly attacked the basket on every Sacramento possession.

McDaniels allowed Fox to score 19 points on seven-of-11 shooting from the field, while Edwards surrendered two triples from the Kings’ guard on Friday night.

Fox went on to establish a new Sacramento Kings franchise record (dating back to the team’s inception in 1948) with 60 points on 22-of-35 (62%) shooting from the field, six-of-ten from three-point range, and 14-of-19 from the free-throw line over 44 minutes.

Although Fox’s incredible efforts occurred during a loss, the basketball world, including Edwards, was further impressed by the guard’s scoring prowess.

“I’ve been a fan of his for a long time,” Edwards said of Fox following Friday’s overtime thriller. “I mean, just watching him, I always felt like he was underrated, underappreciated by everybody. He showed us today who he is. To me, he’s one of the best point guards in the league, and he showed it, man.”

On the underrated front, Edwards isn’t wrong.

Last season, Fox was the only player in the NBA to average 26+ points per game and not be named to the NBA All-Star Game. The 26-year-old also led the league in steals (150) and steals per game (2.0), proving his worth as a two-way threat.

It’s not a coincidence that some stars around the league benefit from the team or market they play in. For Fox and Sacramento, 60-point performances are the type of buzz needed to bring more attention to the ‘Beam Team.’

It wasn’t fair to expect another massive performance from Fox on the second night of a back-to-back, but Saturday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz was a dramatic finish to one of the most memorable 24-hour periods in Kings history.

With DeRozan, Monk, and Sabonis (back tightness) all sidelined, Fox was Utah’s primary—and likely only—matchup concern.

Although the Jazz entered play with the Western Conference’s worst record, they rostered more than enough talent to challenge a Sacramento team that was missing nearly 60 points per game.

Kings head coach Mike Brown was protective of Fox on Saturday, playing the guard in five-to-six-minute increments after a 44-minute outing the night before.

Limited minutes or not, it didn’t matter. Utah had no chance of slowing down Fox, especially in crunch time.

Fox scored 18 points on seven-of-seven shooting from the field during the first quarter in what was a sign that another dominant performance was on the way. By the time play entered the fourth quarter, Fox had already reached the 35-point mark, but Sacramento needed one last push to avoid wasting another massive scoring effort.

With the game on the line late, Fox went to his bread-and-butter: the paint.

After going three-for-four from three-point range during the first half, Fox spent the rest of the game within the arc. Eight of Fox’s 13 fourth-quarter points came from the paint, while the other five resulted from drawing fouls and getting to the foul stripe.

Just unreal change of direction and acceleration. pic.twitter.com/VaXc1v1OiA

— Skyler (KFR) (@SacFilmRoom) November 17, 2024

There aren’t many players in the game today that possess De’Aaron Fox’s ability to draw contact, and his 30 attempts over the past two games prove that point even further.

Fox capped off an incredible, ridiculous 24 hours of basketball with a 49-point outing against Utah–this time, in a winning effort–on 16-of-30 shooting from the field and 14-of-19 from the free-throw line to go along with nine assists.

While Fox’s 109 points over 24 hours nearly equaled Kobe Bryant’s 110-point total from 2007 (the most points scored during a back-to-back in the past 50 years), his teammates teased that he could have crossed the 50-point mark if he had made his free throws down the closing stretch.

“109 feels like it’s so far from 110, it’s crazy,” Fox said with a laugh of his 49-point effort.

Not only did Fox set a Kings franchise record for most points scored over a two-game span (DeMarcus Cousins scored 104 in 2017), but he also joined the company of some of this generation’s biggest names:

Most points scored over a two-game span since the start of the 2020-21 season:

Damian Lillard – 110 points
De’Aaron Fox – 109 points
Devin Booker – 108 points
Luka Doncic – 107 points

What a run from De’Aaron Fox. pic.twitter.com/S9UihAHwxD

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) November 17, 2024

How did Fox, playing without several key contributors, evade the intense pressure of opposing defenses on back-to-back nights with ease? Returning to what has made him a great player since his lone season at Kentucky: Using his quickness and getting into the paint.

“Man, it’s just being able to get downhill and touching the paint. I feel like it has worked wonders,” Fox said.

“Whenever you’re able to do that, you’re able to, one, get to the rim, two, get to the free-throw line, and three, you’re able to still create for teammates. So, like I said before, man, just trying to have a point of emphasis on that. I didn’t even shoot a 3 in the second half and just being able to touch the paint.”

It’s not often you see back-to-back performances like Fox’s 109-point barrage. We might not see something similar from Fox or any other Kings player for a long time–but you can never count Fox out.

This is what Sacramento envisioned when he was drafted with the fifth overall pick in 2017.

This is the player who has been key in bringing this franchise from the NBA basement to the forefront of the Western Conference playoff race, ending a 17-year postseason drought in the process.

This is the player who, at just 26 years old, already holds or will soon hold a series of franchise records.

De’Aaron Fox has been everything and more for the Sacramento Kings since his arrival. The past two games have been a microcosm of his impact, and as Brown stated following Saturday’s game, a sign that his best days are still ahead of him.

Even if the national media and fans in outside markets aren’t fully aware of Fox’s impact, that doesn’t mean he’s going to go away. As he’s done repeatedly over the years, Fox will continue to show up when the lights are brightest.

It’s just who he is.

When will De’Aaron Fox be back in action?

Sacramento will conclude a four-game homestand on Monday night when they face the Atlanta Hawks at Golden 1 Center.

On November 1st, the Kings defeated Atlanta by a final of 123-115 at State Farm Arena behind 31 points from De’Aaron Fox and 27 points from DeMar DeRozan.

Be sure to catch all of the Kings vs. Hawks action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 2:00 PM PT on The Drive Guys before action tips off at 7:00 PM PT from downtown Sacramento.