“That’s exactly how we felt, it was like we were the best offense in the NBA”. Malik Monk appreciated the collective offensive display of his Kings last night against Brooklyn. On a very good evening, Mike Brown's men rode on an extraordinary outside skill to seal a new franchise record for 3-pointers and win 131-118.
Led by De'Aaron Fox (at 5/10), Keegan Murray (at 4/4) and Malik Monk (at 4/7), the Californians finished their festival at 25/45 at 3-points, or more than 55% success!
“We are a team that can shoot and it showed tonight. The way we play together and the way we connect to try to find the best shot, it makes the game more enjoyable for everyone, because everyone has a chance to touch the ball when it's open,” summed up Mike Brown after the game.
Another figure highlighted Sacramento's great evening, with 38 assists on 48 baskets scored. As Keegan Murray pointed out, this circulation of the ball is the key to the Kings' success.
“I feel like we shared the ball well and that allowed us to get a lot of open shots,” confirmed Keegan Murray. “We knew they were a team that could pass on a lot of 3-point situations, and we took advantage of that.”
From the great Murray
Angry with his shooting this season, Keegan Murray particularly symbolized this accuracy. Like Malik Monk, Kris's twin can swing a match in the right direction. This is where the shift occurs, when the rest of the forces present manage to support the Fox-Sabonis axis.
The young winger signed one of his best performances of the season with 24 points on 9/13 shooting including 4/4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and no lost balls in 30 minutes. Mike Brown also appreciated his investment in defense, highlighting even more what he was able to do in attack.
“Keegan was great,” added the Kings coach. “Once again, we're asking him to defend Mikal Bridges and give us his best offensively. And tonight, he showed that he could be a high-level two-way player. It's not like we're asking him to defend on their opponent's third or fourth best player. He defends on their best outside player, the one who can move, create and shoot. He did a hell of a job on both ends of the floor tonight.”
A new challenge awaits him this evening in “back-to-back” on the floor of the Clippers of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| De'aaron Fox | 15 | 36.5 | 47.8 | 36.9 | 73.4 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 4.7 | 6.5 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 30.5 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 20 | 35.3 | 57.5 | 40.0 | 68.3 | 3.5 | 8.7 | 12.2 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 18.8 |
| Malik Monk | 20 | 25.0 | 42.9 | 42.4 | 89.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 14.7 |
| Keegan Murray | 16 | 32.2 | 39.4 | 29.8 | 85.0 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 5.8 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 12.9 |
| Kevin Huerter | 19 | 27.3 | 44.4 | 37.1 | 82.4 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 12.3 |
| Harrison Barnes | 20 | 31.6 | 46.5 | 37.2 | 82.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 11.7 |
| Trey Lyles | 7 | 19.4 | 37.2 | 26.7 | 64.7 | 1.1 | 4.1 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 7.3 |
| Sasha Vezenkov | 17 | 14.4 | 44.4 | 38.6 | 75.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 6.4 |
| Javale McGee | 18 | 9.3 | 67.8 | 0.0 | 57.9 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 5.1 |
| Davion Mitchell | 15 | 15.9 | 36.2 | 29.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 4.7 |
| Chris Duarte | 18 | 14.3 | 39.4 | 33.3 | 71.4 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 4.4 |
| Keon Ellis | 13 | 11.4 | 43.2 | 31.0 | 61.5 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 3.8 |
| Colby Jones | 9 | 7.8 | 46.4 | 12.5 | 66.7 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.2 |
| Alex Len | 6 | 6.8 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 42.9 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 |
| Philip Petrusev | 2 | 3.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Jordan Ford | 5 | 2.7 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Kessler Edwards | 15 | 6.1 | 28.6 | 28.6 | 50.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Jalen Slawson | 4 | 4.4 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
