Sabonis posts second-straight triple-double as Kings beat Raptors

On a night that saw the Sacramento Kings hold a comfortable lead for most of the night, it wouldn’t be a typical night at Golden 1 Center without a bit of drama.

Things got hairy in the fourth as the Kings nearly squandered a 23-point lead, but a strong performance from the offense was enough to hold off the Toronto Raptors during a 135-130 win on Friday night.

Sacramento (21-13) defeated Toronto on their home floor for the first time since November 20, 2016, Golden 1 Center’s inaugural season, while improving to a season-best eight games over the .500 mark.

Another dominant performance from Domantas Sabonis and a big second half from De’Aaron Fox lifted the Kings to its fourth win over the past five games as Sacramento prepares for a big matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

Domas feeds Malik for the OOP 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MCOQPV4qUJ

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 6, 2024

Kings vs. Raptors Takeaways

Setting The Tone Early

As was the case during Wednesday’s win over Orlando, it didn’t take long for Sacramento to build up a double-digit lead on Friday night.

The three-ball was falling in bunches during the first half (14/27, 52%), the ball movement was fluid (season-high 22 assists in a single half), and the Kings benefited from strong play out of Domantas Sabonis and Keegan Murray to put themselves in a strong position through two quarters of action.

Sabonis, who has posted video-game numbers over the past month, racked up his 17th-consecutive double-double before the halftime buzzer sounded. The All-Star big man scored 12 points (six-of-eight shooting), pulled down ten rebounds, and dished out six assists over 18 minutes to set the tone for his teammates.

During the double-overtime win against the Magic, Sabonis and Murray came through in a big way, and that duo was the story of the first half in this one as well.

Murray, who grabbed six of his season-high 12 rebounds during the second overtime period on Wednesday, ended the second quarter with eight rebounds and 14 points on a perfect four-of-four shooting from three-point land.

KEEGAN IS ON FIRE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hemlEZwhlI

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 6, 2024

Sacramento led by double-digits early in the second quarter, but Toronto stormed back to trim the deficit to 57-53 with four minutes remaining in the half.

Thanks to red-hot shooting from deep and a group effort from the bench unit (27 first-half points), the Kings ended the second on a 20-4 run to take a 77-57 lead into the break.

It’s Never Easy

After shooting four-of-10 from the field during the first half, De’Aaron Fox asserted himself early in the third quarter.

The speedy guard quickly scored eight points on four-of-four shooting to help Sacramento pick up right where they left off during the second. With Fox waking up on offense and the rest of the starters reaching double-digits before the end of the third, the Kings crossed the 100-point mark with 4:30 remaining in the third period.

As strong as the Kings’ offense looked heading into the fourth, Toronto made its move by trimming a 23-point deficit to 129-127 with 2:30 to go.

With Sabonis picking up his sixth foul late in the fourth, all eyes turned to Fox for the final push, and the reigning Clutch Player of the Year didn’t waver in the clutch. Fox’s bucket with 48 seconds left put Sacramento ahead by five and put the game away for good as a sellout crowd collected its breath before starting “light the beam” chants.

De’Aaron has ice in his veins 🥶 pic.twitter.com/h9pCjkAO8R

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 6, 2024

Fox scored 14 of his 24 points during the second half en route to a 10-of-20 performance from the field. It was a solid bounce-back performance from ‘Swipa,’ who shook off his roughest showing of the season against the Hornets (15 points on 6/22 FG).

With the game on the line late amid another close call, Fox overcame a late technical foul and battled through the frustration to lead the Kings to another win.

Sabonis Continues To Amaze

Domantas Sabonis is on some run right now.

One game removed from a historic performance that made him the third Kings player in the Sacramento era (1985-present) to post a 20-20-10 triple-double, the three-time All-Star turned around and delivered another triple-double against the Raptors.

Sabonis tallied his 17th-straight double-double and second-consecutive triple-double during 39 minutes of action that included 24 points (11-of-16 shooting), 15 rebounds, and 11 assists.

“It seems like a common thing every game, which is unique for his position,” Kings head coach Mike Brown said of his center following the win.

Domas throws down a ferocious slam 😱🔥 pic.twitter.com/3iE6ogvtCH

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 6, 2024

The three-time All-Star is the first player to post back-to-back triple-doubles multiple times this season and is now the 12th player in NBA history with 40+ career triple-doubles.

Sabonis is also just the third King in the Sacramento era (1985-present) to post 20+ points and 15 + rebounds in three-straight games, joining DeMarcus Cousins (2x), Chris Webber (2x), and Otis Thorpe.

Just another day at the office for Domas.

The Starters Step Up

The Kings have benefited from an aggressive Harrison Barnes over the past two games.

Barnes, who entered Wednesday night’s game against Orlando having averaged 6.3 points on 25 percent shooting from three over his past four games, has contributed with back-to-back high-scoring efforts that aided Sacramento’s winning efforts.

‘The Black Falcon’ finished the night with 16 points on five-of-eight shooting from deep over 34 minutes.

Keegan Murray posted his second-straight double-double during the win, marking the second time in his NBA career that the Iowa product has had back-to-back games with 10+ points and 10+ rebounds.

Murray scored 17 points on four-of-four shooting from three-point land to go along with 12 rebounds over 35 minutes.

Keegan doing it all 😤 pic.twitter.com/xDqj6BfSd8

— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 6, 2024

Chris Duarte was productive over his 16 minutes of play, as the guard went four-of-six from the field during a 10-point night.

Notes

• Sacramento is now 15-0 this season when passing out 30+ assists this season (35)
• The Kings finished the night shooting 52% from the field and 21/38 (55%) from three-point range. Sacramento is 17-2 when shooting 35% or higher from deep.

Injury Update

Trey Lyles appeared to twist his ankle while back-peddling on defense during the third quarter. The Kings had no update on Lyles’ status, but it’s likely that the forward could miss some time. For now, Lyles is considered day-to-day.

When is the next Sacramento Kings game?

Who’s ready for a Sunday matinee?

Sacramento will conclude its four-game homestand against a team that has dominated the Kings in all three matchups this season: the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Pelicans hold a 3-0 record against Sacramento while winning each game by an average of 17.0 points.

Be sure to tune in right here on Sactown Sports 1140 for all of your Kings vs. Pelicans coverage, beginning at 1:30 PM PST on Game Night before a 3:00 PM PST tip-off from Golden 1 Center.

Upcoming Schedule

• Sunday, January 7th – Sacramento Kings vs. New Orleans Pelicans – 3:00 PM PST
• Tuesday, January 9th – Sacramento Kings @ Detroit Pistons – 4:00 PM PST
• Wednesday, January 10th – Sacramento Kings @ Charlotte Hornets – 4:00 PM PST
• Friday, January 12th – Sacramento Kings @ Philadelphia 76ers – 4:30 PM PST
• Sunday, January 14th – Sacramento Kings @ Milwaukee Bucks – 4:00 PM PST

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