No.2 pick Marvin Bagley III got the better of the No.1 De’Andre Ayton, as the Kings beat the Suns at the Golden 1 center.
Marvin Bagley III scored a new career-high 32 points to go with seven boards as he went 10-for-15 from the field, tying his career-high in field goals made while going 11-for-13 from the charity stripe, setting new career-highs for free throws made and attempted.
The Sacramento Kings pick up their second straight victory at home as they defeat the Phoenix Suns, 117- 104, for their third wire-to-wire win this season to finish their six-game homestand at 5-1. The last time Sacramento won five games over a stretch of home games was when they went 5-3 over an eight-game span at home from Mar. 7 to Mar. 20, 2012.
Sacramento’s win was in front of a sold out crowd at Golden 1 Center, marking the Kings 18th sellout of the season.
The Kings started the game on a 10-2 run before letting the Suns get back into the game with the score at 19-17 with 4:03 remaining in the first quarter. After that point, the Kings would outscore Phoenix, 44 to 27 to take a 63-44 lead going into halftime. Sacramento would lead the Suns by as many as 25 points with the score at 74-49 with 7:03 to go in the third quarter as the Kings led by double-figures for the entire second half.
The Kings allowed the Suns to cut the deficit to as little as 12 on three occasions in the second half, all in the fourth quarter, as Phoenix got the score to 110-98 with 3:40 to go in the contest.
TEAM
The Kings set a new season-high for free throws made and attempts as Sacramento went 32-for-44 from the charity stripe. The last time Kings made 30 or more shots from the free throw line was on Nov. 11, 2014 in a 131-109 win vs. Denver. The game against the Nuggets also marks the last time Sacramento took 40-plus attempts from the line as they had 50 free throw attempts.
Sacramento held Phoenix to just six three-pointers on 27 attempts from beyond the arc, tying an opponent season-low for three-point field goals in a game as the Kings are now 2-1 in those games. The Suns shot .222 percent from three-point range as the Kings have held their opponents to under .300 percent from beyond the arc in 19 games, as they are 15-4 in those instances.
PLAYERS
Bagley III is just the fourth Kings rookie in the Sacramento-Era to score 30-plus points in a game as Skal Labissiere was the last to do so in a win when he had 32 points and 11 rebounds on Mar. 15, 2017 at Phoenix.
De’Aaron Fox finished with 17 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals as the Kings are now 16-8 this season when Fox dishes out eight or more dimes.
Devin Booker went 9-for-19 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line as he ended the game with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists after not playing in the Suns last two games.