Sacramento Kings see ‘quiet storm’ building in Keegan Murray following win over Utah Jazz
A lingering foot injury forced Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray to miss two games in early January, but that might have been a blessing in disguise.
After struggling to make shots early in the season, he has been shooting the ball beautifully ever since.
Murray scored a season-high 26 points to lead the Kings to a 118-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. It was just his fourth 20-point game of the season and his first since Nov. 24.
“It finally happened,” Kings guard Malik Monk said. “We’ve been waiting on it. I’m glad it happened now.”
Murray went 9 of 16 from the field and 5 of 10 from 3-point range. He also had six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Making 3-pointers is nothing new for Murray, who set a rookie record with 206 3-point goals after coming out of Iowa as the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Murray went 12 of 15 from beyond the arc while scoring a career-high 47 points against the Jazz on Dec. 16, 2023, at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, but he hasn’t been the same this season.
Murray shot 33.3% from 3-point range in October, 26.1% in November and 30% in December. Missing two games on Jan. 1 and Jan. 3 gave Murray five days to heal after playing through left ankle soreness and inflammation for almost a month. Since then, he has looked like his old self, shooting 37.8% from long distance in January and 38.9% in February.
“It was a struggle just being able to jump off the ground and find a consistency with that,” Murray said. “A lot of times, it kind of felt like I was jumping off one foot in the air, so to have that time and kind of get that right and just get my body right, I feel like that just helped me the rest of the year.”
Zach LaVine followed up his 42-point game against the Charlotte Hornets with 22 points against the Jazz. He went 9 of 18 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
DeMar DeRozan added 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists for the Kings (30-28), who are 10th in the Western Conference, a half-game behind the Dallas Mavericks for ninth in the play-in race.
Walker Kessler posted 25 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz (14-44), which was missing its three leading scorers after Lauri Markkanen, John Collins and Collin Sexton were ruled out due to injuries.
The Kings found themselves trailing early despite facing an injury depleted NBA bottom feeder. They missed three of their first four shots, committed three turnovers in the first three minutes and trailed 19-14 after committing their second shot-clock violation in the opening period.
The game was tied at the end of a clunky first quarter. Utah shot 42.9% while Sacramento shot just 38.1%.
The Kings finally created some separation when LaVine got hot late in the second quarter. LaVine threw down a sensational alley-oop dunk on a lob from Monk and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Sacramento up 48-36.
The Kings led 55-46 at the halftime break after playing a much better second quarter. They shot 54.2% from the field and went 5 of 9 from 3-point range while outrebounding the Jazz 14-7.
Utah cut the deficit to one after outscoring Sacramento 13-5 to start the second half, but the Kings responded with an 11-1 run to push the lead back to double digits. The Kings led 83-69 at the end of the third quarter and went up by as many as 22 in the fourth.
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie said it was good to see a breakout game from Murray, who appears to be in good health and good form after playing through pain earlier in the season.
“One thing you’ll find about Keegan is he doesn’t really complain, and he’s a quiet kid, so you don’t know,” Christie said. “I push him and prod, and he laughs a lot, but he probably hates it. That’s my way to deal with him and bring out what I feel is inside of him, and there’s a lot of good stuff in him.
“There’s a quiet storm. My grandmother would say still waters run deep. When I look at him, there’s an intensity inside of him, especially on the defensive end, that I really like, and it looks like he’s beginning to find his way.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
