The Sacramento Kings are appreciative that De’Aaron Fox has been playing through a thumb injury and other ailments, even as the production has taken a hit in recent games.
Coming off their most lopsided loss under interim coach Doug Christie, the Kings hope to see Fox heat up Monday night when they visit the Brooklyn Nets, who are on a 10-game home losing streak.
The Kings are 10-4 under Christie after going 13-18 under Mike Brown and are winless through the first two games of a six-game road trip. Sacramento took its second-most lopsided loss of the season Saturday when it was dealt a 143-120 setback by the New York Knicks.
Against the Knicks, Fox was held to 14 points on 6 of 20 from the field. It was the 10th time Fox was held under 20 points and the Kings are 5-5 in those games.
“I had 60 with my hand taped,” said Fox, who scored 60 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 15 and has dealt with an injured pinkie on his shooting hand all season. “People can make up the excuse they want. Sometimes you just don’t play well.”
Fox played after being listed as questionable with a right thumb sprain and he missed three games from Jan. 5-10 with a right glute contusion. In seven games since returning from that injury, Fox is averaging 17.1 points and shooting 35.0 percent (43 of 123).
“I’m pretty sure we all deal with some type of injuries that outside people can’t see,” Sacramento’s DeMar DeRozan said. “It’s easy just to say, ‘sit down.’ But I respect (Fox), I commend him for even just being out there … regardless of what’s going on. He’ll know better than any of us, what he can and can’t do when it comes to both hands.”
Sacramento center Domantas Sabonis, who posted his sixth triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, certainly appreciates Fox’s presence on the floor.
“We’re fighting for something,” Sabonis said. “And he knows we’re fighting to turn this thing around for a playoff spot, and he’s on the court. We know just by him being on the court, it helps us immensely.”
Fox scored 31 points in Sacramento’s 108-103 home loss to the Nets on Nov. 24, but he was facing a Brooklyn roster with Cam Thomas, Cameron Johnson and Ben Simmons in the starting lineup.
Thomas will be out with a left hamstring injury, Johnson will sit for the 10th time in 13 games due to a right ankle injury and Simmons could be out with back soreness.
Without the trio, the Nets remained winless at home since Dec. 3 and lost for the 11th time in 12 games when they were handed a 106-97 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday.
The Nets made the final score closer by chipping into an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter but did not have enough offense and were held under 100 points for the 14th time this season and for the eighth straight home game.
“The resiliency and fight, that’s why I’m proud of the guys,” Nets first-year coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We’ll work at it, we’ll watch it, and we’ll be better. I love the fight, the togetherness.”
Brooklyn’s average margin of defeat in its home skid is 14.9 and the Nets have shot under 40 percent five times in the home losing streak after finishing at 37.5 percent against the Heat.
Keon Johnson and D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 22 points. Johnson is 16 of 35 (45.7 percent) from the floor in his past two games and is coming off consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his four-year career.
–Field Level Media
