Wild ending: Fox comes up short as Kings’ win streak ends with loss to shorthanded Hornets
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox established a reputation as a lethal fourth-quarter finisher last season.
The Kings asked him to reprise that role Friday night, but Fox came up a little short as Sacramento’s three-game winning streak ended with a 124-123 loss to the shorthanded Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center.
Fox scored 14 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter, but he missed two free throws with his team trailing by one after the Hornets inexplicably sent him to the line with 2.4 seconds remaining.
“We put ourselves in a position to win a road game,” interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry said. “You have to step to the line and make the free throws, but that being said, we wouldn’t have been there without Foxy and the way he played.”
The Hornets thought they had a foul to give when the Kings inbounded the ball to Fox in the final seconds, but they were wrong. That mistake put Fox on the free-throw line with a chance to win the game.
“When he fouled me, in my head I’m thinking we’re going to make these two and get out of here, but I back-rimmed the first one,” Fox said. “The second one, I just didn’t want to back-rim it, and I short-armed it.
“… I’m very disappointed because I wanted the ball in my hands. Like I said before, they took the foul and you want to punish a team for making a mistake like that. I missed them. Nothing I can do about it now.”
Hornets forward Cody Martin was asked about the play after committing the foul on Fox.
“Got a little bit too aggressive. Wasn’t a smart play. Bad timing, but I just think that it just ended up working in our favor,” Martin said. “He missed two free throws that I’m sure he doesn’t normally miss. I don’t know, I think the basketball gods were in our favor.”
James Bouknight came off the bench to score 24 points for the Hornets (15-13), who won despite the absences of three starters and some key reserves. Miles Bridges had 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists with two steals and two blocked shots.
Terence Davis had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Kings (11-15). Marvin Bagley III posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Buddy Hield also had 15 points, but he went 6 of 19 from the field and 2 of 10 from 3-point range. Hield has made only 9 of 56 (.161) from 3-point range over the past seven games.
“He’s always a threat out there and he creates spacing, as we’ve talked about,” Gentry said. “He’s going through a tough time right now. He’s not shooting the ball well, but he’s always a threat to shoot it, so I think he needed to be out there tonight. There’s been other nights where we didn’t go with him like the other night down the stretch, but I just felt like he was going to make a big shot for us. If there’s any question about it or anything, that would be on me because I’m the one who decided to keep him out there.”
Both teams went into the game with starters out of the lineup. Kings center Richaun Holmes was sidelined with a right eye laceration. The Hornets were missing LaMelo Ball, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee, Terry Rozier and Ish Smith due to NBA health and safety protocols. Nick Richards and P.J. Washington were ruled out due to non-COVID-19-related illnesses.
Gentry warned his team that shorthanded Charlotte played well in a win over the Atlanta Hawks and two close losses to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Kings still found themselves trailing by nine with 1:34 to play in the opening period.
Sacramento ended the first quarter with an 8-0 run and then outscored the Hornets 15-4 to start the second, opening up a 10-point lead with 8:03 to play in the half. The Hornets came back to reclaim the lead, but the Kings were up 71-69 at intermission. Sacramento had to come up with some stops after allowing Charlotte to shoot 60.4% in the opening half.
The second half started ominously with a turnover and lob to Bridges for a one-handed alley-oop. Haliburton had words for fans sitting courtside after making back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Kings stage a 12-0 run to go up 83-71, but the Hornets stormed back once more. They cut the deficit to one at the end of the third quarter and went up by eight early in the fourth.
That’s when Fox started to take over, probing and penetrating to find open spots on the floor. Fox committed a costly turnover with his team trailing by three with 2:24 remaining, but he came up with a steal a moment later, leading to a basket by Davis that cut Charlotte’s lead to one with 1:24 to go.
Fox hit a pull-up jumper to give Sacramento a 121-120 lead with 53.9 seconds to play, but the Kings found themselves down by one in the final seconds. Fox went to the free-throw line with a chance to win the game, but he missed them both after going 8 of 8 to start the game.
“The missed free throws are not the reason we lost the game,” Gentry said. “He played at a very high level. I like the way he’s attacked in the last three or four games. He’s been very aggressive. I think he did a great job for us. We gave ourselves an opportunity. We just let it slip away.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 7:55 PM.
