De’Aaron Fox etched his name into NBA history by scoring 109 points in a two-night span.
After getting a day of rest, Fox will look to continue his epic scoring spree when his Sacramento Kings host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
Fox scored a franchise-record 60 points in Friday’s 130-126 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. One night later, he scored 49 as the Kings posted a 121-117 win over the Utah Jazz.
The only other players to score at least 109 points in two consecutive days are legends Kobe Bryant (110 on March 22-23, 2007) and Wilt Chamberlain (15 times).
Fox’s splurge came with the short-handed Kings missing DeMar DeRozan (back) and Malik Monk (ankle) against Minnesota and DeRozan, Monk and Domantas Sabonis (back) vs. Utah.
“For him to come through with us missing three of our top six guys, that’s what says OK, he’s DeAaron Fox and he did his job,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “Wilt, Kobe (and) Foxy.”
Fox made 22 of 35 shots from the field against the Timberwolves and canned 16 of 30 vs. the Jazz.
He said there was no big secret behind the consecutive sterling efforts.
“Being able to get downhill and touching the paint has worked wonders,” Fox said. “Whenever you are able to do that, you’re able to one, get to the rim; two, get to the free-throw line; and three, you’re able to still create for teammates. I’m trying to have a point of emphasis on that.”
Fox said he wasn’t tired after having such a huge workload on consecutive nights. He said it felt similar to any other back-to-backs.
Brown, though, couldn’t stop marveling at what his star guard accomplished.
“Nobody can stop him from getting to his spots when he wants to,” Brown said. “He’s feeling that. Not only is he feeling that, but he’s showing that.”
Fox scored 31 points when the Kings posted a 123-115 victory over the host Hawks on Nov. 1. That marked Sacramento’s third consecutive win over Atlanta.
Trae Young had 25 points and 12 assists for the Hawks.
Atlanta fell 114-110 to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in the opener of a four-game road trip.
Young registered 29 points and eight assists, and Jalen Johnson scored 25 points for the Hawks. Young has nine 20-point outings this season, and Sunday’s game was the fourth time he has made five or more treys in a game.
However, Young committed six turnovers for the third straight game. Atlanta committed a season-worst 27, leading to 32 Portland points.
Early season sensation Dyson Daniels had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Hawks but also was 5-of-17 shooting with six turnovers.
Daniels has six or more steals in each of the previous four games, totaling 25 during the run. He scored 25 and 28 points over the previous two games.
“He’s letting the game come to him,” Young said of Daniels. “He’s playing off of us offensively, and defensively we’re playing off of him. That’s what we love from him, and we’re going to need him to keep doing it.”
De’Andre Hunter, who recently returned from a knee injury, sat out against Portland on the front end of the back-to-back. He is slated to return against the Kings.
DeRozan and Monk again will sit out for Sacramento. Sabonis is listed as doubtful.
–Field Level Media
