‘Unguardable’: De’Aaron Fox dominates in Sacramento Kings’ win over Los Angeles Lakers
There’s something about the way De’Aaron Fox moves when he starts to take over a game.
The shimmy. The shake. The stepback. The fadeaway.
Fox found himself in full takeover mode in the fourth quarter Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, making one big shot after another to send a crowd of 17,849 trudging toward the exits at Crypto.com Arena.
Fox finished with 32 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, leading the Kings to a 120-114 victory. When it was over, coaches and teammates said there are times when Fox can’t be stopped.
“I told him in the locker room, I said, hey, to me, what he did out there was no surprise,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “It wasn’t great. I’m telling you, that’s who De’Aaron Fox is. He can flat out go.”
After the game, Fox took to Twitter to give the order to “LIGHT THE BEAM,” a reference to the new purple laser that lights up the Sacramento sky over Golden 1 Center when the Kings win.
“I think it’s dope,” Fox said. “We were like, ‘Does anybody else in the league do that?’ Not that I know of. … I saw it for the first time last game, and I literally got out of my car on 5th Street to see it, so I think it’s cool.”
Fox had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting with three rebounds, four assists and one crucial steal in the fourth quarter.
During one sequence in the final 1:18, with the game tied, Fox snatched a defensive rebound, blew by the defense and waltzed in for an effortless floater. When the Kings got another defensive stop on the ensuing possession, Fox went back on the attack, burying a filthy turnaround, fadeaway jumper over Austin Reaves to put the Kings up by four with 32 seconds remaining.
“He’s one of those guys in this league, I think, that’s mostly unguardable one-on-one,” Kings guard Kevin Huerter said. “It really feels like it’s a make or miss. He gets to his spots. There’s really not much defenders can do. It’s just whether he makes the shot or not, so he’s a special player and he’s closing out games for us big right now.”
Domantas Sabonis had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Kings (5-6), who have won five of seven with two controversial losses after going 0-4 to start the season. Huerter had 16 points and six rebounds. Harrison Barnes added 13 points and eight rebounds while Terence Davis came off the bench to score 12 points.
“I think we’re hitting a groove,” Fox said. “And even tonight, I don’t think we played very well, but even when you have games like that, to be able to grind it out and get a win is definitely great for a team, and we just want to keep that trend going.”
Anthony Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the wayward Lakers (2-10), who lost their fifth in a row. Russell Westbrook had 21 points and 11 assists. Reaves had a season-high 19 points. LeBron James did not play due to injury after being ruled out with a left adductor strain.
Sabonis went to work inside early in the game, going 4 of 4 from the field with eight points in the first six minutes. The Kings led by five midway through the first quarter, but the game was tied going into the second.
The Lakers went 5 of 15 from the field to start the game, but eventually their shots started to fall. They tied the game on a basket by Patrick Beverley and later staged a 9-0 run to go up 48-37 on a 3-pointer by Lonnie Walker IV.
The Lakers extended their lead to 13 before the Kings stormed back. Fox scored nine points over the final 1:25 of the first half as part of a 14-5 run, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that cut the Lakers’ lead to four at the break. With that 3-pointer, Fox moved ahead of Kings great Bobby Jackson for 10th on the franchise’s all-time list with 382.
Sacramento went up 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Huerter with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Kings looked vulnerable when Sabonis went to the bench with his fourth foul with 6:25 to play in the third, but the teams continued to trade baskets.
The Lakers led 88-87 at the start of the fourth quarter. They went up 114-112 on a 3-pointer by Westbrook with 2:13 remaining, but the Kings closed out the game with an 8-0 run.
“We had some guys step up big tonight,” Brown said. “I thought Kevin getting six rebounds was huge for us. He had a big one late in the game that was fantastic. TD was amazing. I’m on TD all the time and he stepped up big for us tonight. His 12 points was huge for us. We needed every one of those buckets. He hit some timely buckets for us. He was fantastic.
“I thought just seeing our guys’ composure on the road down the stretch. Westbrook hits a big 3 at the 2:13 mark and that put them up two, and from that point on we went on an 8-0 run. HB put his head down and drove and picked up a foul and knocked two free throws down, and that started the 8-0 run, so I love our composure the last two minutes. I love our ability to get stops in the last two minutes, and that’s what won us the game.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 1:58 AM.
