Fox outguns Morant and Murray makes first career start, but Kings lose again to Grizzlies
Kings coach Mike Brown unveiled a new starting lineup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday at Golden 1 Center, but the outcome was the same.
Desmond Bane scored 31 points to lead the Grizzlies to a 125-110 victory before an announced crowd of 15,511 in Sacramento, where frustrations are mounting as the Kings search for their first win.
“It’s a long season, so you don’t want to put your head down after the first four games,” Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “But we know we have to turn this thing around and it’s as simple as that.”
Fox outdueled Grizzlies star Ja Morant and rookie Keegan Murray impressed in his first career start, but Memphis posted its eighth consecutive win over Sacramento dating back to the 2020-21 season.
Fox finished with 27 points and six rebounds for the Kings (0-4), who haven’t defeated the Grizzlies since Feb. 28, 2020. Fox went 11 of 19 from the field and 2 of 6 from 3-point range.
“He’s a tough cover when he’s in the open floor, out in transition, “ Morant said. “He uses that to his strength to get downhill and make plays.”
Harrison Barnes looked like himself again after struggling in the first three games, scoring 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He went 7 of 8 at the free-throw line after making 7 of 13 in the first three games.
Murray had 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds and Domantas Sabonis nearly recorded a triple-double, posting 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Malik Monk had 15 points and seven assists in 22 minutes off the bench, but Sacramento’s bench was outscored 45-27.
“Their bench came in and really kicked our behind,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “We gave up middle drive after middle drive after middle drive. That’s one of our big staples defensively. We can’t let the ball get to the middle, but it seemed like the ball got there every other play, and when they got there, they scored.”
Morant had 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting with five rebounds and six assists for the Grizzlies (4-1). Steven Adams had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Morant went into the game as the league’s second-leading scorer. He came in averaging 35.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 54.8% from the field and a scorching 60% from 3-point range. Fox wasn’t far behind, averaging 31.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting 59.4% from the field and 45% from beyond the arc.
Fox might have won the individual battle, but the Kings would rather win a game.
“We’ve hit some adversity,” Brown said. “We’re 0-4 and nobody’s feeling good about that start. In this business, you’ve got to have a mental toughness to handle any type of adversity in front of you. For me, this is going to be a great thing for me to watch us go through and see if we’re going to fight or if we’re not going to fight.”
Murray received a huge ovation during pregame introductions when he was announced as a member of the starting lineup for the first time. He did not disappoint as Sacramento’s new lineup helped the Kings jump out to a 23-13 lead over the first seven minutes.
The Grizzlies battled back to go up 32-28 at the end of the first quarter. Memphis led 51-42 with 4:55 to play in the half and carried a 60-56 lead into the break.
The Grizzlies extended their lead to 13 on a dunk by Santi Aldama with 8:01 to play in the third quarter. The Kings cut the deficit to two following a 15-4 run highlighted by back-to-back alley-oops involving Fox and Monk, the former Kentucky teammates. Fox threw the first lob to Monk, who returned the favor with a lob to Fox 21 seconds later.
At that point, Sacramento seemed to have the momentum, but Memphis had Morant, who scored the next two baskets to stop the run. The Grizzlies ended the third quarter with an 8-0 run to carry a 94-83 lead into the fourth.
The Kings made one more push to get within six early in the fourth, but, again, they couldn’t sustain the momentum. The Grizzlies outscored the Kings 14-4 over a span of 1:59 to go up 116-99, their largest lead of the game.
Experimentation
Brown hinted at rotation changes during his pregame news conference, saying he planned to try something different against the Grizzlies after going 0-3 to start the season.
“We have plenty of guys that can step in and step up and we’re going to experiment with a couple of other guys today to see what that looks like,” Brown said.
Brown brought Chimezie Metu off the bench in the first quarter and called on Chima Moneke to make his NBA debut in the second period. Metu had two points, three rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes. Moneke had two rebounds and one assist in six minutes.
Brown used a total of 14 players, although Alex Len logged just three minutes while KZ Okpala and Matthew Dellavedova, making his first appearance for the Kings, came in for the final 34 seconds.
Mitchell had seven points in 12 minutes. Davis had three points on 1-of-5 shooting in 11 minutes. Holmes had two rebounds in eight minutes.
Huerter hurts shoulder
Kevin Huerter left the game late in the first half after hurting his left shoulder in a collision with Dillon Brooks.
Huerter stayed in the game momentarily but left the floor at the next whistle, heading straight to the locker room to get checked out by the team’s medical staff. Huerter returned for the start of the second half but played only four minutes before sitting out the rest of the third and fourth quarters.
Huerter said he was alright after the game, but the team said his availability for Friday’s practice was uncertain.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 12:19 AM.
