The Fox-Herrera duo is complementary. With Fox's shooting progress, the pick and roll between the two is even more lethal. Hector has one if not the most stable shot in the NBA, defenders are forced to mount him during pick and roll, and Fox is one of the best slashers in the league.
Both are good playmakers, and Fox has made great strides in defense. He will never be an elite defenseman, but he is a more than decent defender, and that's enough for the Kings. The Kings' hyper-aggressive system makes them the fifth-best defense in the league, which is a different world than last season.
San Francisco, CA.
Both teams have won all three group matches at the In-season Tournament, and it's time to decide on the group's leadership. The Warriors and Kings have the same record, with 12 wins and 7 losses.
The Kings are in a negative spiral with two overtime losses to the Suns and Nuggets. Golden State them are on two wins in a row. Kevon Looney is to miss a few games that have earned some losses.
Kings: Fox, Huerter, Barnes, Murray, Herrera.
Warriors: Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, Green, Looney.
A pick and pop of Hector and Fox open the hostilities. Hector, with a mid-range, scored the first points. De'Aaron will cause chaos. He made an assist for Huerter, who finished with a layup and took advantage of a screen by Hector to score his first points.
The Warriors will be suffocated by the Kings early in the game. Hector stole the ball into the hands of Looney, who was trying to get a dunk. He recovers the ball and sends a long pass to Barnes, who finishes at the layup.
Hector receives a ball from Huerter at the post and shoots directly. 10-4 for the Kings. Murray will put a layup on an assist from Fox. Fox will then bypass Hector and shoot from the mid-range instead of slashing. Hector will perform a putback dunk after an offensive rebound.
After a 14-4 run by the Kings, Green will finally score for the great good of the Warriors. But Fox does not want to sympathize with their suffering. He does not hesitate to drive the knife. He will send Barnes to the dunk and make the Warriors miserable.
Both teams' 3-point skill is absent, and Hector is happy to grab rebounds. Floater, stepback, layup, and shoot. Swipa is causing massive damage, and the Warriors can't do anything. He scored 8 points in a row to widen the gap to 16 points (26-10).
Curry scored his first 3-pointer at 2:24 of the end of the first quarter. Lyles and Thompson scored driving layups. And Hector will close the quarter with a 3-pointer in the corner. The Kings roll on the Warriors and lead 33-23.
The clock ticks, and Fox takes care of running the machine. He sends assists, and at 41-34, he will suddenly accelerate. First, with a 3-point jumper, he will cause a foul and get two free throws. He's going to do both, and it's not over. He will still achieve a 3-point from the logo—the ultimate sign of a confident player.
Curry responded with a 3-dot of the logo. But Swipa da Fox is unstoppable. Strategy? Pass the ball to him.
With Fox's 16 points and 5 assists in the quarter, the Kings are blowing out Golden State 71-51. You got it right Fox destroyed the game, and Hector was excellent too. Murray shows his potential as an elite two-way player.
The Kings' bench was almost non-existent, but the absence of Vezenkov and Malik Monk didn't help.
De'Aaron Fox had a career-best game with 44 points and 20 assists. He is the third player in history to achieve such a performance. Only Tiny Archibald and Oscar Robertson have done it twice. The anecdote is that all three are related to the Kings. Tiny Archibald did it with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings and Oscar Robertson with the Cincinnati Royals.
Two earlier entities of the Sacramento Kings.
Hector finished in a double-double with 25 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Keegan stepped up and confined Wiggins on defense, scoring 20 points.
The Kings won the game 128-110, but the score did not reflect the shape of the game. The Warriors did not exist, and the Kings won and qualified for the knockout rounds. The Kings have defeated the Nuggets and will face the Suns, the Super Team, in the semifinals that will meet in Las Vegas on December 7.