Huge Night From De’Aaron Fox Leads Kings To Win Over Hawks
Mar 24, 2021, 10:03 PM | Updated: 10:03 pm
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
Sacramento has won four of their last five games after Wednesday’s win
Don’t look now, but the Sacramento Kings are beginning to pick up some steam.
Thanks to a massive night from franchise guard De’Aaron Fox and clutch plays down the stretch from Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento was able to hold off the Atlanta Hawks to claim a 110-108 win on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center.
With the win, Sacramento (19-25) has won two games in-a-row and four of their last five games.
De’Aaron Fox was cooking in the first half, scoring at will during a 24-point first half on eight-of-11 shooting from the field, including three-of-three from the three-point line and five-of-five from the free-throw stripe.
The star guard would show no signs of slowing down in the second half, eclipsing the 30-point mark for the 10th time this season before play even entered the fourth quarter.
Thanks to Fox’s scoring outburst and an 11-0 run to end the third quarter, Sacramento would take an 85-74 lead into the final period.
Atlanta would open the fourth quarter with a 9-3 run to cut the Kings lead to four before eventually taking a 94-93 lead on a Bogdan Bogdanovic three with 6:25 remaining.
Tyrese Haliburton would sink a huge four-point play followed by a fall-away jumper by Fox to give Sacramento a 100-96 lead with just over three minutes remaining.
After a back-and-forth scoring affair by both teams over the ensuing two minutes of play, Haliburton was fouled going to the basket and would knock down both free-throws to give the Kings a 110-108 lead with 36 seconds left.
Atlanta would get a final attempt to tie or win the game, but Fox would strip Hawks guard Trae Young with 1.3 seconds remaining to all but seal another win for Sacramento.
Danilo Gallinari’s last-second attempt to force overtime would be off the mark to give the Kings their second-straight win.
Rounding out the box score
Fox would finish with a game-high 37 points on a blistering 13-of-20 from the field, including three-of-four from three-point range and eight-of-nine from the three-point line.
The budding star continues to prove that he is becoming an elite NBA scorer, as the former Kentucky Wildcat has scored at least 28 points in eight of his last nine games.
Rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton was flirting with a double-double on Wednesday night, scoring 17 points (six-of-12 from the field) to go along with five rebounds and seven assists.
Richaun Holmes scored 16 points and grabbed eight boards while supplying strong defense down the stretch, including a huge block late in the fourth quarter on a drive to the basket by Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Buddy Hield got off to a strong start in the first quarter, scoring 11 points before going cold until finally knocking down another triple late in the third period.
Hield would struggle after the opening quarter, going on to finish with 14 points on five-of-18 shooting from the field.
Wednesday’s game featured the return of forward Chimezie Metu, who appeared in a game for the first time since fracturing his wrist on February 14th.
The former USC Trojan looked strong in his return to the floor, finishing with seven points (all in the second quarter) on three-of-five shooting from the field–including a three-point field goal–his second of the season.
Backup center Hassan Whiteside pulled down 12 rebounds to go along with eight points in the win, providing the Kings with a force down low to combat Atlanta center Clint Capela (17 rebounds).
Former Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic made his return to Golden 1 Center since joining the Hawks in the offseason.
The 28-year-old would score 20 points in his first game back in Sacramento after inking a four-year deal with Atlanta.
Final Farewell
With Thursday’s 12:00pm PST NBA trade deadline just hours away, it was very possible that some members of the Kings appeared in their finals games for the franchise on Wednesday night.
That would be the case for backup guard Cory Joseph, who was dealt to Detroit in exchange for guard Delon Wright immediately after the game.
“I’m very thankful for Cory and it’s all love on this side, Tyrese Haliburton said of Joseph after the game.
Head coach Luke Walton and De’Aaron Fox also shared their admiration for the departing guard, who will leave Sacramento after a season and-a-half of wearing the purple and black.
The move to acquire Wright is one that makes the rest of the team’s deadline outlook murky, with the trade possibly signifying more moves to come over the next 14 hours.
Players such as Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III, Nemanja Bjelica, Hassan Whiteside and Richaun Holmes have had their names mentioned around the trade rumor mill over the past few days.
However, recent reports suggest that Sacramento will likely be holding onto most of their key pieces due to the fact that they are just 3.5 games out of the 10th spot in the Western Conference.
Coming Up
The Kings will play the second game of a back-to-back on Thursday night against a shorthanded Golden State Warriors team at Golden 1 Center.
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry (tailbone) will be inactive for Thursday’s game, giving Sacramento a slight advantage in their second matchup of the season with their Pacific Division foe.
Back on January 4th, the Kings suffered one of their ugliest losses of the season during a 137-106 drubbing by the Warriors at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
You can find all of your Warriors vs Kings action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, starting with pregame coverage at 3:00pm PST on The Jason Ross & Doug Christie Show before a 7:00pm PST tip-off.
Upcoming Kings Schedule
- March 25 (NBA Trade Deadline at 12:00pm PST)
- March 25 vs Golden State Warriors
- March 27 vs Cleveland Cavaliers
- March 29 @ San Antonio Spurs
- March 31 @ San Antonio Spurs
