De’Aaron Fox Scores 17, But Kings Fall To Jazz 98-91
By Rafe Wong
De’Aaron Fox had a solid game scoring 17 points, but his efforts were not enough for the Sacramento Kings as they lost to the Utah Jazz by a score of 98-91.
Game Summary
Both teams struggled to put points on the board to start the game, but a 13-4 run by the Jazz gave them a 25-17 advantage to end the first quarter. The main theme for the period was how bad the Kings were on offense as they could not make their three-point shots and were stopped by Rudy Gobert when trying to score in the paint. For the quarter, the Kings shot 30% from the floor and 20% from the perimeter.
Sacramento continued to struggle on offense to begin the second, and as a result, Utah ran away with a commanding 40-25 lead. It seemed like a blowout was heading in the Kings’ direction, but they were able to find their mojo behind the play of De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic. With the Kings going on a mini-scoring run to end the half, they found themselves trailing by just nine points.
In the third quarter, both squads went back and forth scoring the ball. Once the period ended, the Jazz kept their lead of nine points going into the fourth. For the quarter, Gobert led the Jazz with six points while being the defensive anchor for his team. For the Kings, Buddy Hield led the team as he scored seven points for the period.
The final period was a replication of the third. The Kings played solid basketball but were unable to construct a rally to get back into the game. Once Sacramento finally trimmed the lead down to single digits, not enough time was left for a comeback to be completed.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Kings had a decent game. But their offense was stalled due to the stellar defensive performance by the Jazz as they limited the Kings to shooting just 38% from the floor and 30% from the perimeter.
Although Sacramento will leave this game with a loss, they did have some of their young talents excel as De’Aaron Fox scored 17 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic recorded 15 points and five rebounds, and Skal Labissiere finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks.
Next time the Kings will hit the hardwood will be tomorrow night when they face off against the Knicks.