The Sacramento Kings seemed to be in a heap of trouble headed into Saturday evening. Three of their four best players, DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Malik Monk, were sidelined, and the Kings were on the second night of a back-to-back after an overtime loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Even with the rebuilding 3-8 Utah Jazz on the docket, things seemed headed toward an ugly ending in the third quarter when the Utah Jazz took a double-digit lead.
And then De’Aaron Fox exploded – again.
After putting up a cool 60 points on 35 attempts just 24 hours prior, Fox once again put the city of Sacramento on his shoulders and dragged the Kings into a winning position. He poured in another 49 points on 30 field goal attempts, while also dishing out 9 assists. That’s 109 points in 79 minutes on 65 field goal attempts for those keeping track – the most points scored in a two-game span in Kings history.
And the Kings won this time!
Aside from Fox’s historical heater, a couple of other Kings players stepped up in others’ absence. Trey Lyles was a physical pest for the Jazz all evening long, ending the game with 17 points, including 5/7 from deep, and Kevin Huerter had a similar impact from three-point range, putting in 18 points on 5/12 from beyond the line. For the Jazz, Lauri Markkanen was the leading scorer, ending the evening with 25 points and 5 boards, while Keyonte George, Utah’s second year guard, put in 19 of his own.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
The Good:
- De’Aaron Fox: 109 points in two games. Again, 109 points in two games.
- Orlando Robinson: Fans have been waiting for several weeks to get a peek at Orlando Robinson’s game, and after an impressive night in the G League, Mike Brown went to his newest center early on Saturday with mostly positive notes. While the box score numbers aren’t particularly exhilarating (6 points and 3 boards in 12 minutes), Robinson showed an impact and dynamism that hasn’t been evident from the backup center spot in several years. He wasn’t and won’t be perfect, but the kid can clearly play – a positive sign for a Kings team in desperate need of a vertical presence on both ends of the floor.
The Bad:
- Fouls, Fouls, and More Fouls: The Utah Jazz aren’t a particularly good or dynamic team, but the Kings allowed them to hang around and eventually take the lead for the majority of the second half with their constant fouling. Utah hit the bonus mark with more than 5 minutes left in the first quarter, and again with 7 minutes remaining in the third, leaving the door open for the Jazz to make easy shots and set their defense on the other end. The Kings ended the night with 29 fouls leading to 42 Jazz free throws.
- Mason Jones: For whatever reasons, some of which seem valid, Keon Ellis continues to work a hybrid schedule in Mike Brown’s world – he spends half of his time on the court and the rest in the doghouse. Instead of going to Keon early in the game, Brown shuffled some minutes Jones’ way, and the results were ugly. Jones rushed his only two shots of the night, missing both, and the game felt frenetic in a negative way with him on the floor. It was an experiment gone awry and hopefully one not seen much again this season.
The Ugly:
- The Invisible (Third Year) Man: With Sabonis, DeRozan, and Monk out on Saturday night, it was critical that multiple role players step up offensively alongside the insane production of De’Aaron Fox, and while several contributors showed up for that assignment, including Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles, Keegan Murray apparently took a vacation day. Sacramento’s second-best (available) individual scorer didn’t attempt his first field goal until mid-way through the second quarter, and he ended the game with just 5 points on 6 field goal attempts. Committing as many fouls as points scored simply isn’t good enough for Keegan Murray at this point in his career.
Kings of Kings
De’Aaron Fox – ’nuff said
Up Next
Monday, November 18th vs Atlanta Hawks – 7:00 PM (PT)
First!
Glad we have a warrior like Fox that can put an entire team on his back and will them to be competitive. Wish it would rub off on Keegan and the rest of the guys who are struggling. Need to get healthy ASAP and match De’Aaron’s fire.
Let’s hope Fox also doesn’t have a back issue. He has carried this team for 2 games now.
Man, Keegan…sheesh.
lol
God forbid he focus on stopping one of the premier forwards in the league instead of scoring the basketball every time he touches it.
This was also Kayte’s take on it. I’m not particularly qualified to decide who is right, but it would be good if Keegan’s critics engaged and responded to the point that Kayte and Sacto_J make.
Especially coming off a night where he played 45 minutes guarding Anthone Edward’s and Julius Randle most of the time.
Fox was able to defend well in both games AND drop 109 points. That just shows the type of player he can be, and how far the gap is between Fox and Keegan in terms of high end/all-star/all-nba talent.
I don’t recall Fox playing this level of defense while scoring 109 in 2 games in his 3rd year at all, so maybe it shows the difference between a 3rd year player on the rise and an 8 yr vet who’s a 2 way all star.
js
I wasn’t talking down on Keegan, just showing where he is now, and where he, hopefully, can get to.
Fox started being a offensive player and then dialed up the defense over the years.
Keegan is showing to be a defensive player early, and hopefully gets the offense going as he ages.
Keegan should be able to do two things at once. If he can only either play defense or take/make shots, he quite frankly isn’t very good.
“Quite frankly isn’t very good”. That’s a bold move Cotton.
Here is where Keegan is comparable to some notable forwards:
Keegan:
Kawhi:
Jimmy Butler:
OG:
Lauri:
Tatum:
PG:
Middleton:
Pascal:
Peja:
Idk. Stat wise, and eye test wise, he is pretty good. I get that there are stumbles offensively, but that floater is looking very good, the Elvin Hayes-ian turnaround jumpers from the foul line look good, the cutting looks good.
DeMar is one of the best isolation scorers in the game still, Fox is one of the most difficult guards to defend in the league, Domas runs the point and is one of the better post players in the league, and Monk is a true microwave, its not like he is a focal point, so I don’t find the speed bumps in his development very remarkable nor particularly telling or imposing.
I think what Carl was saying was that Keegan – as seen by his defensive assignments/mindset the last two nights – has only the capacity to focus on either offense or defense right now. This actually might be a good sign because this hyper-focus is allowing him to grow on his D.
Keegan did seem a little bit unprepared or preoccupied when it came to the offense playsets the last couple games, This could have been a result of what Keegan looks like when he doesn’t have plays designed for him. His rebounding improvement this year isn’t lying though and cannot be undervalued.
Way to chop half my sentence off to argue something I didn’t say.
I’m on record – Keegan’s ceiling is Harrison Barnes, who is a good player. Right now, Keegan’s got a pretty good regression going vs last season, and he’s being passive when the team needs him to step up. I’m good to admit that I’m wrong if Keegan meaningfully improves over the previous season.
Had to dig deep in this one as a team. Fox hard carried of course, but it wouldn’t have mattered unless the much maligned depth could step up. Lyles and Huerter answered the call and they got some good minutes from Robinson, JMac, and Len was solid in his short stint as well.
Fox is just toying with the rest of the league right now.
Can someone check if Keegan has a pulse? Did making him a fulltime 4 impact his offense this much? If so maybe the team needs to find a real PF so he can play sg/sf.
Incredible game by Fox. Just completely in the zone the last couple of games.
Yes. And find someone else who can guard the opponents best player.
Because the sacrifice of Keegan’s 3ball for D is not with it. You don’t draft at 4 to get a good/very good defender who is starting to board. He/they need to figure this out.
And this Fox- mid range, getting to the bucket, efficient from three- I love.
Part of that is on Keegan, obviously, but I am also wondering how much coaching is impacting his offensive disappearing act. Does he have a clear, defined role that plays to his strengths? Doesn’t seem like it.
And when I look how Keon has completely lost his mojo out there, I have even more questions about the coaching. Again, part of that is on Keon, obviously. But he was poised to be the opening day starter in everybody’s mind until Huerter’s recovery took a jump and suddenly he was a DNP-CD or low minutes guy?
But the main issue is Keegan, given the draft position and investment in him. The sample size is trending towards his first season’s 3P-shooting being an abberation, and he doesn’t seem to be able to create sufficient separation to create his own shot consistently. Doesn’t have the explosive first step, the strength, athleticism and/or craftiness for it. And seems reluctant to do so. If his 3 isn’t falling, that will make it even more difficult to create other shots for himself.
And now I fully expect him to score 61 next game just to prove me wrong…
I think you are spot on with Keegan not being much of a priority offensively from the coach’s game plan. He seems to just get points opportunistically rather than having plays run for him.
I am not sure I am in full agreement with Keon being the starter in everyone’s mind. He had a stretch of maybe 25 games where he played well? The Kings record wasn’t great in his starts either. I don’t know how that cements a starting position. Ham made several comments about how lackluster he looked in practice and preseason, so he might not have earned it. He is a below average offensive player, not just in his skillset but also in his decision making, and the Minny game two nights ago showed that. Kevin is so much more dynamic offensively, I get why he is starting. I think Keon is best suited for his 18-24 minutes a game that he is getting, and that isn’t damning him with faint praise, if someone who can play defense like he can and hit open three’s as a 7th or 8th man then that seems pretty good overall.
I agree with you in terms of the coaching staff not calling plays for him. He gets most of opportunities playing with Sabonis, so having him out has definitely hurt his game.
I will point out that the first play of the second half was an obvious designed call for Keegan to get the ball at the top of the arc. It worked and he nailed the shot.
Keegan isn’t here of a self-creator. He needs to be setup to some extent.
Either way, coaching or Keegs, his real value to this team is as a lights
out 3 point shooter.
I find it ridiculous that the team and Keegs are sacrificing the 3 for D? W Fox and Sabs and now DRZ the Kings need shooting.
if Keegan can’t shoot he wasn’t worth the pic. Team and Keegs need to focus on fixing and finding his shot and looks.
You can draft amd good defending crappy shooter in the 2nd round. It will be a waste of a 4 pick if they don’t figure this out.
I agree that Keegan should have been more aggressive in this game, but I also wonder how much Domas’ absence affected Keegan’s offensive opportunities. He wasn’t getting the same screens to get him open nor the on-time, pinpoint passes that he usually gets from Domas.
“Can someone check if Keegan has a pulse? Did making him a fulltime 4 impact his offense this much?”
Just stop. These takes are so trash.
Do you think the increased muscle/weight has had anything to do with the shot being off this season?
I think he didn’t have a very high usage rate at all last night and scored 5 pts on 2 shots and people are overreacting to an off night without his usual starting mates. Bad timing but its something for the Hate flavored KoolAid crowd to sip on. The fact they’re guzzling it down shows how thirsty they are.
He’s averaging 14 and 8 and playing high level defense (his DBPM is the highest on the team, I believe) and he’s rebounding at a higher level than ever which is exactly what we need from him right now.
Do I think adding muscle affects a jump shot? Yep. Do I think jump shots are what we need from Keegan this year? Not as much. Does that excuse him from making them at a consistent clip? Not at all. Do I expect him to return to the mean after a one game aberration? Absolutely.
109 comments on the last recap
Coincidence?
Don’t know. Joe no say.
At least in this game, we found out Issac Jones and Orlando Robinson can play
O-Rob was a pleasant surprise!
Props to Fox what an incredible two day run. Getting a win tonight seemed impossible but given how tight the West standings are this was a big win!
Keegan… I would have preferred 0-20 over what he did tonight. Man he’s just got to be more aggressive than that. Unacceptable. Keon immediately got benched after passing up a wide open 3 then throwing a terrible pass for a turnover. Felt justified. Stuff like that just can’t happen.
Huerter and Lyles stepped up and made shot which was great! Now they just need to do it when everyone is healthy.
A Kings win is a purple colored cherry on the sundae of a great Saturday night.
Have a winnable(?) game on Monday against ATL then 3 badly-needed days off. Hopefully Domas, DeMar, and Malik come back full strength by the end of this coming week. Hopefully Keegan recovers from whatever seemed to ail him tonight, too.
And happy to welcome back the awesome version of Trey Lyles!
Isaac Jones reminds me of Leon Powe.
Po’ man’s Powe
Fox is unbelievable when he’s giving 110%. When that motor is running he’s an all pro player.
Keegan though… I have to put a ton of blame on coach brown for him and his struggles. A lot have mentioned what his role is, or should be, or who knows? I’m not sure keegan knows either. Maybe he has peaked offensively and he’s just never going to be that all star we all thought he’d be. I don’t think he needs to be though. Rookie season keegan role + his defense is a great role player to have in my opinion and might simplify the game for him.
I understand seeing the potential but at some point we have to ask is his mentality that of a “killer”. He has all the tools to be, but it just might not be who he is. Simplify his role and I think we get a much better version of him
Anyhoo, great win
100% I have been critical of Fox some in the past due to his motor and leery of giving him the max.
If he can be consistent and play like this he deserves the max.
Him being aggressive and not settling for quick threes is the key.
Keegan is a shooting guard go get a 4 man
Fox doubling down on being the coolest guy on the court.
Best challegnes ever by the coaching staff!
Shoutout to Lyles, Huerter, McLaughlin and Len for the support.
I liked what I saw from Robinson and Isaac Jones.
I don’t recall ever seeing a play whistled for an out of bounds then challenged and turned into a foul.
I think it wasn’t possible until this season, but now they changed the review rules to allow that. I could be wrong.
I want a
pg.fox
sg. Keegan Murray
sf. Derozan
pf. Trey
c. sabonis
lineup for now on.
keegan does so much better shooting over smaller guys and guarding them. Legit spends his offseason training with and against fox. Get him on some cuts and post ups. He is always going to have a mismatch in this rotation
That was a great win. Fox is really just an unbelievable offensive player. I saw some comments about how other teams have benches able to step up when players go down. The Kings were without their 2nd, 3rd, and 5th best player. Do the Celtics cruise being down Porzingis, Brown, and Holiday? Do the Lakers win without James, Reaves, and Rui?
The Bucks without Dame, Middleton, and God knows who is fifth best on that team (and they were missing Dame and Khris and lost to Charlotte tonight). The Cav’s without Mobley, Garland, and Okoro? This was a good win, it wasn’t just that the Kings were without “a couple of guys”. The couple of guys were an All-NBA center, one of the best sixth men in the game, and up until the Fox eruption, their leading scorer.
Perhaps mere semantics, but I also find the phrase “the Kings allowed them to hang around and eventually take the lead” a bit of a specious descriptively, as if well coached veteran players like Lauri, Collins, Sexton, & Clarkson as well as promising talents like George and Filipowski are not skilled and without agency to actually excel unless the Kings “let them”.
Slightly off topic, but who picks the singer of the national anthem? Does anyone, or is it open mic night for Golden 1? The last two nights have been rough.
Who knew Orlando Robinson was Dollar Store Artis Gilmore? I loved the soft touch on that hook shot, and that was a terrific screen to get Kevin open for a three. I like that kid.
For the other old heads, did anyone else get a Paul Mokeski vibe from Drew Eubanks? I couldn’t get it out of my head once I saw it.
Paul Mokeski was also the first coach of the Reno Bighorns, before they were dumped and moved to Stockton.
Was he really? I did not know that. He had a long NBA career without ever having an outstanding skill set, one of a prototype that seems pretty particular to that era.
Fox’ performance aside, it was just fun to see so many unknowns get a shot and deliver (to an extent).
I’ve got growing concerns about our coaching staff though, the rotations have become less and less sensical. Respectfully, why would you dust off Mason Jones for 5 minutes when Ellis is available? Ellis had only played 23 mins vs the Timberwolves, so it couldn’t have been fatigue.
Anyway, a nice win when factoring in all the injuries. Hope they come back soon though.
I was at the game and agree with this assessment. Kings were definitely out of their rhythm without Sabonis, and missed the presence of DeMar and Malik, but nonetheless hung in and showed grit to eeke out the win again talented Utah team. Props to Coach Brown for saving his Challenge to the end, and using and winning 2 in a row that proved to be the difference in the outcome.
Could of had Lauri for Keegan..blown opportunity.
Could they have?
Watched the 1st half last night (meh), and 4th quarter this morning. Kings were lucky they played the lowly Jazz or this probably would have been a loss.
Fox was great, Huerter and Lyles helped, and they got okay minutes from the bench.
Keegan played some good defense on Lauri, who is a difficult cover because of his size and versatility on offense. But 6 shots in 39 minutes when Domas, Monk and Demar are out? They gotta get him more involved to help this team in the long term.
Also, the late foul calls were very noticeable. I thought maybe I had a delay on the audio or something, but after reading some comments it seems they were just lat whistles. Missed shot, rebound and looking for an outlet pass, then the foul call. That’s not okay.
Nope. Stop this Fox praise immediately, because we all know you can’t build around this guy. 3 or 4 folks have talked their asses off about it for weeks now, so just…nope.
Keegan is trade bait, obviously. Can’t score when he defends, doesn’t smile enough, and absolutely can’t play the 4, he’s just too small. Trey is garbage, why do we even have Alex Len when anyone else would be better. And obviously Domas does absolutely nothing for us. Might as well package him with Fox for a REAL all star.
Like, literally there’s comments like this after every loss and it sounds so fkn stupid. This team is what we have and they’re going to compete most nights. And I expect more nights than not that they’ll win. I also expect the 31 other teams in the league to bring their best and sometimes that’s going to get the better of our squad. There isn’t one team in the league that doesn’t have flaws and things to overcome, we’re one of 32 imperfect teams.
Last night, Fox wasn’t having it. And I’m glad he’s a King. Our squad showed grit and determination and beat a team that, while not playing well record-wise, was still a team licking its chops coming into G1C with a wounded Kings squad in front of them.
Keegan played some great defense on Lauri, Fox continued his scoring explosion, and practically the entire available roster showed out when they were given minutes. It wasn’t always pretty, but they hit their stride in the 4th and kept their foot on the gas.
Nice job. Nice fkn job.
The NBA has 30 teams, not 32.
To be fair, Trey was playing really bad this season up until the past few games. Like, almost unplayable in some of those games.
The bench showed up for spurts. Different guys took their few minutes and made the most of it, on a night when it was desperately needed.
“The NBA has 30 teams, not 32.”
Fair point. For now…
Great team win! Nice to see some of the young guys on the court. Robinson and I Jones both should get some minutes and see how they do.
Fox has been amazing.
Lyles is coming around and they need it. J Mac has been contributing as well.
Huerter played good again. I’m a big Keon guy but he had some horrible TOs. Looks too timid on offense at times.
And Keegan needs to do more with some of the primary scorers are out. On offense he just disappears for big chunks of the game. Yes, he is taking a tough match up defensively every night and expending energy on that. But he needs to do more.
1) Fox is clearly carrying this team right now is is playing in rarefied air.
2) Isaac Jones deserves more minutes.
3) Keegan is in his own head and is greatly missing playing next to Sabonis
4) Lyles just played his best game of the season, and the team will need every ounce of him while guys are out with injury.
5) The current injury streak will continue with the minutes the core players are getting. Monte needs to get them help.
6) Robinson and Len stepped up in their minutes. The two combined for 14, 8, 2 while shooting 6 for 7 with a three and a block in 25 minutes. That’s solid.
I was wondering what people were going to think about Isaac’s play last night. I hadn’t really paid much attention to his time in Stockton so I did not know what to expect. He looks interesting to me, certainly a physical player.
I think Trey missing training camp was a significant factor in his slow start, but I am a fan. He is a genuine gamer and I think fits this team well, he looks like he has his legs and timing again.
I think J-Mac continues to look fine, I can see why they signed him. Len is situationally effective, just not against every team. If Orlando can be even adequate off the bench, he is a good size and pretty mobile, seems like a bit of offense to his game, and he did not look lost defensively.
If those few players can get some more time on the floor, I think the bench seems close to adequate, and perhaps as some teams flail as the season progresses, then Monte can pick up a wing with size.
Just my guess, but I believe that the coaching staff is looking for guys to “make plays” “play the right way” which to me, means shoot when you are open, especially from 3, don’t hesitate. If you don’t follow that plan on offense, we’ll take you out and give someone else the opportunity- hence Mason Jones in place of Keon.
In the same vein, Orlando Robinson coming in with a quick catch and shoot three likely made the coaches nod in delight. Trey Lyles does this often, and he’s getting the minutes too.
With Domas (12.5) and DeRozan (4.1) out, both great and good rebounders, I was disappointed with Keegan’s lack of rebounding- a point of emphasis for him which he’s done wonderfully on this season (8.1), until last night. One game- he’ll respond. But Lyles, Robinson and Len have to help. In general, Sac has given away too many possessions due to overall mediocre rebounding.
Great all-around game from the Kings. I was really impressed by everything. The broadcasters were calm and composed. The coaches dug deep in the bench and the management brought in Robinson.
it was nice to see some other Biggs out there. Robinson looked ready and Isaac Jones looked better than he did just last month in preseason.
Call me crazy, but I think Isaac Jones might just possibly be someone who sticks around. This dude didn’t even start playing basketball until seventh grade and was 6’4” when he left high school. His raw abilities if hounded could be something very promising.
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