De’Aaron Fox scores 10,000th point, DeMar DeRozan lights the beam after Kings beat Blazers
Many moons have passed since the Kings last illuminated the sky in Sacramento, but they finally got to light the beam Monday night.
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points to lead the Kings to a 111-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers before a crowd of 16,426 at Golden 1 Center. After going 0-5 during the preseason and 0-2 to start the regular season, the Kings played a stellar second half to earn their first win before setting out on a four-game road trip.
“It’s definitely great to get that first win out of the way,” Fox said. “We felt like we dropped one the first game of the season, but getting a win before going on a long road trip is always good.”
Fox became the fifth player in franchise history to score 10,000 points, joining Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Mitch Richmond and Tiny Archibald.
“What a career,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “What he’s done for the city of Sacramento, for the organization, at such a young age to score his 10,000th point tonight, that should definitely be celebrated, so congratulations to him and the rest of the Fox family because that’s a neat milestone to hit at this point in his career.”
Fox received a big ovation with many fans standing to applaud the achievement.
“Honestly, I forgot that I was actually close, but to do it at home, and obviously to do it in a win, makes it even that much more special,” Fox said. “Not a lot of people get to do that, and obviously the average span of an NBA career is like 3 ½ years, literally one contract, so being able to be blessed to be in the league that long and being able to put the ball in the basket that many times, definitely a blessing.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points for the Kings (1-2). DeRozan, who lit the beam for the first time since coming to Sacramento in a three-team sign-and-trade deal, went 7 of 14 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Kevin Huerter scored 18 points, going 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 9 from beyond the arc. Huerter seems to be finding a rhythm seven months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
“It feels good,” Huerter said. “It feels better to get our first win.”
Domantas Sabonis added 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for Sacramento.
Deandre Ayton had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers (1-3). Scoot Henderson came off the bench to score 18 points
“That’s a playoff team over there,” Ayton said. “We competed enough, but they kind of turned the tables where they started thinking the game, using concepts and the environment of the fans against us a little bit.”
The Kings came alive in the third quarter to break open a close game. They shot 61.9% from the field and made 6 of 10 (.600) from 3-point range while outscoring the Blazers 38-28.
Both teams struggled to make shots in the opening period. The Kings shot 33.3% while the Blazers shot 36%. The Kings still managed to go up by as many as 11 and led 25-20 at the end of the first quarter due in large part to their free-throw shooting.
Going into the game, the Kings were No. 1 in the NBA in free-throw shooting (.833) and No. 5 in free-throw attempts (30.0). They continued that trend in the first period against Portland, going 11 of 12 from the stripe.
The game got even uglier in the second quarter. The Kings committed five fouls in the first 2:50 to put themselves in the penalty with 9:50 to play in the half. They were clinging to a 30-29 lead at the 8:00 mark after going 7 of 23 (.304) from the field to start the game.
The game slowed to a crawl with the two teams combining for 30 personal fouls, 34 free throws and two successful coach’s challenges in the first half. The bright spot for Sacramento was DeRozan, who had 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line.
The Kings led 51-43 at the break despite going 15 of 39 (.385) from the field and 4 of 15 (.267) from 3-point range. The Blazers shot 36.6% from the field and went 1 of 13 from beyond the arc.
The Blazers cut the deficit to two on a 3-pointer by Grant after outscoring the Kings 15-9 to start the second half. The Kings responded with a 12-0 run to go up 72-58 on a basket by DeRozan. They extended the lead to 18 on a 3-pointer by Malik Monk and carried an 89-71 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Kings led by as many as 26 points in the fourth. The Blazers staged a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 13 with 5:25 remaining, but they couldn’t get any closer.
The Kings played the second half with a sense of urgency they lacked last season while squandering games against lesser or injury depleted teams.
“I feel like any time we play at home, there needs to be an urgency to win, ” Huerter said. “I think we should have played desperate coming into this. We just couldn’t let them play harder than us and outwork us, and for the most part I feel like we did that.”
Free-throw Kings
Free-throw shooting was a big focal point coming into the season after the Kings finished 21st in free-throw attempts (20.9) and 30th in free-throw percentage (.745) last season.
The addition of DeRozan, who ranked fourth with 7.7 free-throw attempts per game last season, has helped the Kings turn their biggest weakness into a strength.
The Kings made 23 of 25 free throws against the Blazers. After three games, they are No. 1 in the NBA in free-throw percentage (.859) and No. 6 in free-throw attempts (28.3).
Up next
The Kings will open a four-game road trip when they visit the Utah Jazz on Tuesday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Both teams will be on the second night of a back-to-back. The Jazz visited the Dallas Mavericks on Monday after opening the season with a 126-124 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and a 127-86 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
The Kings will have to contend with Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who averaged 23.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in the first two games of the season.
Sacramento Kings schedule
Oct. 29 at Utah Jazz
Nov. 1 at Atlanta Hawks
Nov. 2 at Toronto Raptors
Nov. 4 at Miami Heat
Nov. 6 vs. Toronto Raptors
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 10:45 PM.
