What we learned as new Kings duo Fox, DeRozan burns the first win of the season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points to become the fifth player in Kings franchise history to reach the 10,000-point scoring plateau, and Sacramento got its first win of the 2024-25 NBA season after beating the Portland Trail Blazers 111- 98. on monday night
DeMar DeRozan added 23 points, three assists and three steals as the Kings lit up the beam at Golden 1 Center for the first time this season. Domantas Sabonis had another double-double – the 355th of his career – with 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Huerter scored 18 and Malik Monk had 12.
The Kings led from start to finish showing a lot more muscle and physicality than they did when they lost to the Blazers two weeks ago in the preseason.
Sabonis provided the spark early and effectively attacked the rim helping Sacramento build an early lead, but it was Fox’s night to celebrate.
The veteran point guard — who had double-doubles in each of Sacramento’s first two games — shot 9 of 20 from the floor and earned his milestones in the third quarter. Fox joins Oscar Robertson, Jack Twyman, Mitch Richmond and Tiny Archibald as the only players in Kings history with 10,000 points or more.
While Fox did his thing, the rest of the Kings took care of the little details. Sacramento grabbed 47 rebounds and dished out 25 assists.
The only real problem for Kings coach Mike Brown has to be how badly his team played and defended the position. Sacramento did a good job down low losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers but did not have the same success against Portland, becoming overwhelmed 52-28 in the paint.
Now it’s on to Utah, where the Kings look to get their first road win on Tuesday against the Jazz.
Here are the rules for Monday’s game:
Getting To The Line
DeRozan’s ability to attack the rim and draw contact was a definite factor in the Kings signing him in the offseason, and we can see why.
After making 50 of 60 free throws in the first two games, Sacramento did another solid job of getting to the line Monday against Portland. The Kings finished 23 of 25 from the stripe, with DeRozan leading the way by going 9 of 10 on free throws.
Sacramento went into the night leading the NBA in free throw percentage and has a success rate of 85.8 percent now.
Another Game, Another Big Run For Opponent
In each of their first three games, the Kings allowed opponents to go on big runs that changed the momentum of the contest. Monday’s affair with the Blazers was no different.
Sacramento built a seemingly comfortable 10-point lead midway through the first quarter, then allowed Portland to trim the gap to one point following a 19-19 run.
It’s a disturbing pattern that needs to be resolved soon. The Kings were outscored 20-7 at one point during their season-opening loss to the Timberwolves, then got blitzed 21-0 by the Lakers last saturday
Good Challenge
The Kings caught a break in the second quarter when Brown challenged a foul call on Monk while Sacramento’s sixth man was defending Jerami Grant.
Replays appeared to show Monk’s left hand touching Grant’s forearm as the Portland forward went up, but officials ruled it was a legal play on the ball and so the call was overturned.
That’s the third successful challenge in four attempts for Brown this season. During the 2023–24 season, Brown had a .500 (28–28) record in challenges.
