Fox scored at least 20 points for the 15th game in a row
It’s déjà vu all over again for the Sacramento Kings.
De’Aaron Fox scored 41 and was dominant, but the Kings lost yet another basketball game, this time a 134-125 loss to the Utah Jazz.
The first quarter Fox played on Saturday was perhaps the best and most dominant 12 minutes of his career. He was incredibly dominant and had it going from three, mid-range and, of course, at the rim. Fox cooled off a bit as the game went on, but overall it was yet another dominant Fox performance.
It’s safe to say that trading Tyrese Haliburton at the deadline was the best thing for Fox’s game.
Aside from Fox, Harrison Barnes had a pretty solid game for Sacramento, with 18 points on seven of 12 shooting.
It is pretty challenging to find any player worth praising for their performance on Saturday besides those two. After all the talk of improving the depth at the trade deadline, the Kings are still a top-heavy team, with many guys playing big minutes that shouldn’t be playing big minutes on a good team.
Jordan Clarkson cooked the Kings on Saturday, scoring a career-high 45 points off the Utah bench. Clarkson was hitting some tough off-the-dribble shots, but a good percentage of those points can be attributed to some porous Sacramento defense.
Saturday was another game where Sacramento couldn’t guard its shadow. Heading into this offseason, somehow addressing this issue has to be the priority for Monte McNair and the front office.
Sacramento is now 24-45 with just 13 games left. The Kings are now just a half-game behind the Indiana Pacers for the fifth-worst record in the NBA.
The Kings will return to Sacramento for a four-game homestand, starting against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.