The Sacramento Kings are suddenly rolling again. After a horrific stretch where they lost nine of 11 games, and didn’t look good at all, the Kings have now won four of their last five. The only loss was a one-point defeat at the hands of last year’s Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat.
A big reason for the Kings’ turnaround has been the play of De’Aaron Fox. The 6’3″ point guard from Kentucky seemingly has put the team on his back. Wednesday night in a 118-109 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, Fox had 38 points and twelve assists.
He was especially effective in the fourth quarter when the Kings needed it most. For the second game in a row, Fox had 17 points in the final quarter with 14 coming in the final 5:22 of the game to help the Kings erase a 10-point New Orleans lead.
https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1356456056331718656?s=20
Fox started this season slowly. He’s averaging 22.1 points per game thus far, but in the last seven games has averaged 28.3 per game. The lightning-quick Fox is a marvel at getting into the lane and driving to the hoop, finishing at the rim with an assortment of soft caroms off the glass or emphatic rim-rattling dunks.
He also has a nice soft mid-range jumper. Watch him here one more time as he does a “Houdini” to go by Zion.
https://twitter.com/NBCSKings/status/1356432386481872901?s=20
Fox has two areas on the offensive end that he has to improve to take his game to an all-star level: three-point and free-throw shooting. If he can consistently hit the outside shot, it opens the lane for his drives to the hoop, and doing so will draw fouls for free throws.
[pickup_prop id=”3481″]
Fox came into Wednesday’s game against New Orleans shooting only 67% from the line. In the one-point loss to Miami, he made only 3-of-8 free throws. It was something the fourth-year player was very upset about, so he turned things around, going 7-for-7 from the line in the win over the Pelicans.
Three-point shooting for Fox is still a work in progress, but he is gaining more confidence. In the past two games he’s attempted 21 threes, making six. On the season, Fox is converting 35% of his shots from beyond the arc.
https://twitter.com/NBCSKings/status/1356439065000882178?s=20
Prior to the start of the season, Fox inked a five-year, $163 million max contract extension. Head coach Luke Walton has called Fox the “head of the snake”.
He’s the Kings’ leader. and the team’s foundational piece to build a winning team that will end their 14-year playoff drought and make them one day a championship contender.
Follow us on Twitter @Kings_Lead for the latest Kings news and insight.
Leave a comment