De’Aaron Fox’s rare scoreless fourth quarter haunts Kings in Game 5 loss to Warriors
READ MORE
Sacramento Kings in the Playoffs
Kings playoffs have arrived! Here’s everything you need to know.
Expand All
De’Aaron Fox received a rousing ovation from Sacramento fans when he was presented with the inaugural Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award before Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Golden State Warriors. And in a stunning twist of irony, the Kings’ All-Star went scoreless in the fourth quarter in a pivotal loss to the defending champions.
Fox, of course, suffered an avulsion fracture to the index finger on his shooting hand in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 loss in San Francisco and played with a splint on his finger Wednesday.
“I was fine,” he said afterward when asked about the injury.
If he was, he didn’t play like it.
Fractured play
His six shot attempts were the most he’s ever had in a fourth quarter without making any since he entered the NBA in 2017. Wednesday marked just the fifth time all year he didn’t score in the fourth quarter.
One was a 20-point blowout win over the Houston Rockets in early February. Another came in a 153-121 victory against the Brooklyn Nets when he logged just two fourth-quarter minutes.
The others: an 18-point loss in Boston on Nov. 25 and a 127-120 win in the 10th game of the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers Nov. 9.
Fox led the NBA with 194 points in clutch situations during the regular season and was second among all players in the playoffs with 20 clutch points before Wednesday.
Head coach Mike Brown had a different answer when asked if Fox’s injury affected his performance.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Brown said. “Obviously, he’s showing a lot of toughness being out there in the first place. And he played 42 minutes, and you know the hand got hit, and the finger got hit over the course of the ballgame. But he still hung in there. He’s done it all year, so whatever he feels he needs to do down the stretch or over the course of the ballgame, we’ll ride with.”
Fox grimaced and grabbed his hand a few times throughout the game. He got off to a strong start, scoring a game-high 17 points in the first half while making his first three 3-pointers in the first quarter. His performance was emblematic of the rest of the offense. The Kings made eight 3s in the first quarter and just two the rest of the way.
“Playing a team multiple times, they make adjustments,” Fox said. “I think, at times, I had good looks that just didn’t go. I think they played a good game defensively. They got their hands on a lot of balls, a lot of deflections, blocked shots. I think they did a good job in the second half defensively.”
Green: ‘He was conscious of his finger’
While Fox missed all six of his fourth-quarter shots, the Kings went to Malik Monk over and over again. It was clear Sacramento was trying to get him downhill to the basket with his right hand, where he’s bothered Golden State’s defense throughout the series. Monk made three of his six shots in the fourth, while making seven of his eight free throws.
But Sacramento also had five turnovers. The Warriors had four steals and three blocked shots. Draymond Green was responsible for three of those steals and had one blocked shot.
“I don’t think he was conscious of his finger,” Green said afterward, referencing Fox’s 24 points coming in the first three quarters. “So it was nothing for us. He still shot 25 shots and got some of the looks he’s been making. We were able to affect some of them and they didn’t go down tonight.
“If you’re guarding a player like De’Aaron Fox, it’s a total team effort. There’s not one guy on any team that’s going to stop De’Aaron Fox. So we know we have to rely on each other when guarding and trying to stop a guy like that. We had a little success tonight, but he’s not stopping. They’re facing an elimination game now. (He’s the) Clutch Player of the Year. He’s going to come out and leave it all out on the floor. We got to try to replicate that effort.”
The series shifts back to San Francisco for Game 6 on Friday at Chase Center, where the Warriors won Games 3 and 4 of the series.
“Just got to be better in the second half, period,” Fox said. “Fourth quarter, I just have to play better.”
This story was originally published April 27, 2023 at 12:17 AM.
