De’Aaron Fox helps Sacramento Kings storm back from 23-point deficit to beat Atlanta Hawks
The Kings did something rare for them during their roller coaster season Friday night in Atlanta: They came back to beat the Atlanta Hawks despite trailing to start the fourth quarter.
The Kings snapped a two-game skid, coming off a dispiriting loss Tuesday in Portland, with a 117-110 victory over the Hawks at State Farm Arena while earning just their second win of the year after trailing through three quarters. They were down by as many as 23 points in the first quarter but fought back to improve to 2-11 when trailing after three.
De’Aaron Fox’s corner 3 inside six minutes remaining gave Sacramento its first lead — and gave Fox at least 30 points for the 12th time this season. Last year’s leading scorer in clutch situations engaged in a conversation with fans sitting courtside during a timeout with 4:20 left and the game tied at 110.
Fox finished with 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds while making a career-high eight 3-pointers.
Sacramento began the game getting outscored 31-8 before Brown called timeout late in the frame, but the Kings finished the quarter on a 15-5 run over the final 3:44. They were sparked by Malik Monk, who scored seven straight points on a highlight-reel alley-oop, breakaway layup and 3-pointer. They ended the quarter down 13 after falling behind by 23.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assist. Trey Lyles added a season-high 19 points. Monk had 15 points with eight assists and was plus-17 in his 30 minutes.
The Kings fought back to trim the lead to five in the second quarter. Atlanta finished the quarter on a 23-10 run over the final six minutes to go up 71-53 at the break. Dejounte Murray scored 16 in the first half while making 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Murray finished with 18, scoring just two points after halftime, and Trae Young scored 24 with nine assists.
Sacramento outscored Atlanta 64-39 after halftime.
Lyles scored 12 points in his first 10 minutes, including three made 3s to keep the Kings afloat during their rough first half.
Mike Brown willing to make changes
The Kings were coming off arguably their worst performance of the season in Portland on Tuesday. They fell to the rebuilding Trailblazers by 17 points despite Portland missing two of its top players, Shaedon Sharpe and Deandre Ayton. Sacramento allowed Portland to shoot 50% from the field while Fox and Sabonis were Brown’s only players to reach double digits.
The game typified a worrying trend for the Kings. Kevin Huerter scored just five points, Harrison Barnes had nine. Monk led the team’s reserves with seven. Fox and Sabonis combined to shoot 67% on 45 field-goal attempts while the rest of the team shot a miserable 31%.
That led to questions about Brown considering changes to his starting lineup before Friday’s game. Brown went with his usual starters but indicated he’s not opposed to switching things up. He hasn’t reached that point 29 games into the season.
Making a change to the starting lineup could be necessary after Huerter exited Friday’s game with a left hand injury in the third quarter. Huerter dealt with a left hand injury that caused him to miss a Nov. 19 win in Dallas. The Kings’ next game comes Sunday in Memphis, where the Grizzlies have been surging since guard Ja Morant returned from a 25-game suspension.
“There’s nothing that’s permanent in any business,” Brown said before Friday’s tipoff. “So it’s just a gut feel based on what I see.”
The theme continued Friday. Monk and Lyles spurred the Kings’ comeback from the 23-point deficit to trim the lead to five in the second quarter. They combined for 34 points while Huerter and Barnes combined for nine.
Huerter, specifically, is having one of the worst statistical seasons of his career. His 10.6 points per game before Friday was his lowest since his rookie season in 2018-19. The sharpshooter hadn’t made more than two 3-pointers in a game since making four against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 2. He’s shot 27% from distance in 11 games since.
“Just like everybody else, everybody gets evaluated all the time,” Brown said. “Whether it’s for starter’s minutes or significant minutes off the bench or no minutes at all, you’re constantly looking at that throughout the course of the year. And sometimes you make changes here, you make changes there. When you do, you roll with it for a little bit to see if it makes sense. And then if it doesn’t, you make another change.
“I believe in the guys that we have, but it’s my job also at the end of the day to make a change if I feel it necessary, for sure.”
Barnes did not play in the fourth quarter as the Kings went with Monk and Chris Duarte on the wing while Huerter was out with his hand issue.
