De’Aaron Fox snaked around an Alex Len screen with just under 2 minutes left in the third quarter, evading Patty Mills and Onyeka Okongwu in the process. He stepped back and connected on his fourth 3-pointer. Fox’s 3 brought the Sacramento Kings within eight points after once trailing the Atlanta Hawks by 23.
“Uh oh! Uh oh,” Fox shouted sarcastically to the Friday night Atlanta crowd sitting courtside.
"Uh oh!" 🥶
De'Aaron is HOOPIN' right now pic.twitter.com/O5XhFVFglK
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 30, 2023
Fox notched his career high in made 3s (8 of 16) for the second consecutive contest en route to a 117-110 win over the Hawks with 26 of his game-high 31 points coming in the second half. He knocked down seven 3s in the final 24 minutes.
“I keep saying time and time again that he can knock that shot down,” Kings coach Mike Brown said of Fox postgame. “To go 8 of 16 from behind the arc was a big night for him. … When you set a career-high for 3s made and you did it on 50 percent shooting in a game as tight as this one was, that shows that you can be a special player in this league.”
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He’s without a doubt a special player, who’s just entering his prime. Fox added eight assists, five rebounds and four steals on 10-of-20 shooting. He isn’t even two weeks into being 26 and he’s in the midst of his best season yet. Fox is averaging 30.2 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals, shooting 40.4 percent from long range on 8.9 attempts per game. All those numbers are on pace to be career bests.
The more comfortable Fox got from long distance, the more he let the fans know about it. He turned directly to them after nailing his seventh 3 of the night and yelled, “Oh my God!”
Talk that talk, De'Aaron 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/0Zl2SMllIi
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 30, 2023
Keep in mind, he was letting the crowd know how hot his hand was while his Kings were still trailing. Sacramento faced a 13-point hole entering the second quarter, an even more daunting 18-point deficit to start the second half and finally a five-point uphill climb to start the fourth.
But the Kings kept chipping away, outscoring the Hawks 64-39 in the second half. Those 39 points are the fewest Sacramento has allowed in any half this season. Even after cutting Atlanta’s lead to five to start the fourth quarter, the Kings found themselves behind by 11 points with 8:45 remaining. Sacramento rallied to end the game on a 26-8 run. Led by, you guessed it, the reigning NBA Clutch Player of the Year.
He drilled half of his eight 3s in the final frame and each of his six fourth-quarter shot attempts came from beyond the arc. This just speaks to his growth in a category that now makes him close to unguardable as arguably the fastest player in the association.
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“We know De’Aaron is one of the best players in our league,” Davion Mitchell said postgame. “He can get his points on three levels. Midrange, layups, free throws and 3-pointers. Today he was feeling it on 3-pointers and he helped us tremendously in this win.”
Mitchell, who had essentially fallen out of the rotation due to the emergence of Keon Ellis, saw double-digit minutes for the first time since Dec. 16 against the Utah Jazz. Although he scored just two points, he drew the Kings’ only charge, played inspired defense and earned the defensive player of the game crown in the process.
Davion stayed ready for his number to be called and 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 to earn tonight's 𝑫𝑷𝑶𝑮 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 🗜️ pic.twitter.com/qPBFTE4SlJ
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) December 30, 2023
“I’ve got to give the young man credit,” Brown said. “He’s hung in there, hung in there, hung in there. His head was into the game tonight and his performance was huge for us in terms of getting the win tonight.”
Malik Monk was complimentary of Mitchell’s ability to stay ready. Monk mentioned he talks with Mitchell often since he feels he’s gone through what Mitchell is currently dealing with.
“(Davion) is handling it great,” Monk said. “Not complaining, coming to work every day, working harder. I think that’s why he played tonight and got his chance. … He helped us win tonight.”
"I've been through the same thing he's going through, so I talk to him a lot."
Malik knew Davion would be ready when he got his opportunity tonight 💯 pic.twitter.com/hIJ98Ana1S
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) December 30, 2023
As special as Fox and his running mate Domantas Sabonis — who nearly notched his sixth triple-double of the season Friday — have been all season, they can’t win on their own. Sabonis was the second-leading scorer with 25 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and seven dimes on 12-of-17 shooting. Their recent loss to the Portland Trail Blazers was a prime example. The All-Stars combined for 77 points, 20 boards and nine assists, but it still wasn’t enough to put Sacramento in the win column Tuesday night.
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This bench combined for 17 points in that loss, the second-fewest they’ve mustered all season long. Friday night, though, the bench flipped the script and scored 43 of Sacramento’s 117.
Trey Lyles paced the second unit with a season-high 19 points and six boards on 4-of-9 shooting from long range. Monk, usually the most productive off the bench, was right behind him with 15 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Len replaced JaVale McGee as the backup center and made the most of his time, posting a plus-11 in his 13 minutes.
Chris Duarte also saw his first game with at least 20 minutes of action since Nov. 24 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Talk about the guys coming off the bench,” Brown said. “They (Duarte and Mitchell) were both really, really big.”
The bench had no choice but to aid Fox and Sabonis to produce a well-rounded attack. Veteran Harrison Barnes failed to make a field goal for the first time this season, missing both of his shot attempts and scoring his only two points from the free-throw line. He logged a season-low 12 minutes in the victory. Keegan Murray didn’t have it going offensively either, adding nine points on 4-of-12 shooting, though he did continue his astute defense with three steals and a team-high two blocks.
Kevin Huerter scored seven points in 10 minutes before exiting with a left-hand injury in the third quarter.
Brown went with a closing lineup of Fox, Monk, Duarte, Murray and Sabonis. Lyles made a strong case to close the game too. Instead, he showed the selflessness and maturity that has made him an asset to Brown and his coaching staff.
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“In the last five minutes, I told them to keep Keegan out there,” Lyles said during his interview with NBC Sports. “Just because we were doing well defensively and I didn’t want to break the rhythm of the game up. So that was more so on me. They wanted me to go back in, but I thought we were doing pretty well, so I wanted the guys to finish it out.”
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Fox and the guys did just that, neutralizing Atlanta with a second-half shutdown defensively, while also finding their stride offensively to improve to 18-12.
“We came in at halftime and were talking,” Monk said. “Said ‘we’ve got to hit them in the mouth first and they’re going to let us back in it,’ and that’s what happened.”
Conversations between players without the outside influence of coaches are what Brown believes can take his team from good to great.
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“I love hearing it,” Brown said. “I don’t think you can ever become a great team in this league until the locker room takes ownership in the process. It’s all the guys in the locker room. It can’t always come from me and it can’t always come from the other coaches. It’s got to come from within that circle of players. … Tonight was a big step, a big learning experience for all of them in that regard.”
(Photo of De’Aaron Fox: Dale Zanine / USA Today)
