The Sacramento Kings are growing big right before our eyes. On Tuesday night, the Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 125-115, thanks to the production they got from their promising backcourt from De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton.
On a disappointing outing against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, Fox was the center of all that the Kings did offensively Tuesday, scoring 24 points on an effective 8-of-15 shooting from the field and a nine-pointer the team lined up. help. If you can believe it, Harrison Barnes has eight assistants, which is a career highlight for him.
Fox has had nice stat lines before, but this one feels different because of the way he took over in the fourth quarter. The stakes were high early in the season, or as high as it could be, and he delivered it. This is what you want under the franchise.
Tyrese Haliburton, who was equally composed on Tuesday night, quickly makes people question how he fell to number 12 spot in the 2020 NBA draft. He also makes people wonder if he is not just a rookie.
In 24:54, Haliburton did a bit of everything for the Kings, with 13 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals. For someone who has not had the luxury of playing in NBA Summer League, he understands the speed of an NBA game as well as anyone. He’s good, and if he persists, he’ll get the Rookie of the Year consideration sooner rather than later.
In all, seven Kings finished the night with double figures, including Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley III, who finished jointly with 38 points on Tuesday night. This is no small feat against Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap. They were great, and they are only going to get better – especially Bagley.
The Kings still have some areas to clean up. After all, they almost made this game slip away from them by letting the Nuggets run 17-0 in the quarter. But they prove to be talented enough to keep matches close and scrappy enough to win. Those things make for a fun, young team.