Malik Monk helps Kings top Lakers in overtime thriller despite injury to De’Aaron Fox

De’Aaron Fox did everything he could to help his team win before an injury forced him to leave the game. Malik Monk took over from there.

Fox scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and Monk had 11 in overtime, leading the Kings to a hard-fought, dramatic and perhaps costly 132-127 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday before a sellout crowd of 18,198 at Golden 1 Center.

Fox scored 37 points and returned to the game to make big plays after going down with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter, but pain and mobility issues prevented him from finishing the game. Kings coach Mike Brown did not have an update on Fox’s condition immediately after the game, but he was sure of one thing.

“(Fox) is tough as nails, man,” Brown said. “To try to show the grit that he showed and get out there to help us win a ballgame, that just speaks volumes to who he is and how much he wants to lay his body on the line to help his team.”

Monk had 22 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Kings (2-1). Keegan Murray had 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Domantas Sabonis recorded his third consecutive double-double with 12 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals before fouling out.

Anthony Davis had 30 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers (1-2). LeBron James, playing on the 20th anniversary of his NBA debut in Sacramento on Oct. 29, 2003, had 27 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. Taurean Prince added 20 points.

“Malik was huge,” said Kings guard Kevin Huerter, who broke out of his funk with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks. “We don’t win this game without his play, really all game, but especially in that overtime. He made every play, getting to the rim, making big shots, making plays for everybody else. You guys have seen that. We know he’s capable of that. He was huge.”

The Kings raced out to an 18-9 lead with Fox and Sabonis combining to score 15 points over the first 4:36. They led 41-28 after shooting 59.3% from the field and 53.8% from 3-point range in the first quarter.

The Kings led by as many as 15 in the second quarter and carried a 66-55 lead into the halftime break. Fox finished the half with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, scoring 20 or more in the first half for the 12th time in his career.

The Kings shot 52.9% and made 9 of 22 (.409) from 3-point range while holding the Lakers to 39.5% shooting. Sacramento also had a 34-16 advantage in points in the paint.

The Lakers came back to cut the deficit to one on a 3-pointer by Prince after Fox went to the bench with his fourth foul midway through the third quarter. The Kings ended the third with Fox, Murray and Sabonis all on the bench after Sabonis was whistled for his fourth foul with 2:44 to go, but they held an 87-83 lead going into the fourth.

The Lakers took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Rui Hachimura with 10:24 to play. Kings coach Mike Brown immediately called a timeout to get Fox and Sabonis back into the game.

The Kings trailed by five with 8:31 remaining when Fox spun past D’Angelo Russell for a midrange jumper that resulted in a three-point play. He was looking to attack again moments later when he went down under the basket after stepping on Gabe Vincent’s foot and rolling his right ankle.

A hush fell over the crowd as the team’s medical staff came out to check on Fox, who stayed down for two to three minutes. Fox eventually got to his feet, limped off the floor and headed to the locker room with trainers, but he returned to the bench a moment later and insisted on going back into the game.

Fox walked to the scorer’s table and checked into the game to thunderous applause. He quickly made a stepback 3 to get the Kings within one. Murray then hit a 3-pointer to give them the lead.

The Lakers tied the game when James drove past Murray for a layup with 12.9 seconds remaining. The game went to overtime when Murray missed a long 3-pointer as time expired.

“It looked good, felt good, but I’m just glad we were able to get the win in overtime,” Murray said. “Hopefully I can redeem myself at some point.”

Fox ignored instructions and started the overtime session despite being told to remain on the bench. After about 90 seconds, Brown took Fox out, saying he was “limping really bad.”

Monk made two big 3-points and Huerter had another to help the Kings outscored the Lakers 17-12 in overtime.

Sasha showing progress

Brown has been impressed with the growth of Sasha Vezenkov since the start of training camp. Vezenkov, a 28-year-old rookie who was named EuroLeague MVP last season, needed time to adapt to the NBA game, but he seems to be settling in nicely now.

Defense was a big concern early on, but Vezenkov has shown good instincts. He had one blocked shot and two deflections in his first three minutes of action Sunday.

“You watch him more and more and you see some of the little things,” Brown said. “It just makes you appreciate him more because there are little things that may not show up on the stat sheet or you may miss during the flow of the game, especially if he’s on the weak side and you’re kind of watching the ball or something like that. Then when you go back and review the tape, you go, ‘Oh, OK, he’s got a pretty good feel,’ and then you go back and you watch defense and you go, ‘OK, he’s trying to do things the right way,” and so he’s definitely making strides.”

Not concerned

Kings guard Davion Mitchell made his first basket of the season when he knocked down a corner 3-pointer in the first quarter.

Mitchell spent much of the summer working with Brandon Payne, who has gained fame as Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s shooting coach. Mitchell is confident in his mechanics after taking some of the arc out of his shot, but he didn’t have much to show for his effort in the first two games of the season.

Mitchell went scoreless in both games, going a combined 0 of 5 from the field and 0 of 3 from 3-point range. Brown said he wasn’t concerned going into Sunday’s game against the Lakers.

“I didn’t know he didn’t score and I’m not really worried about his scoring,” Brown said. “His super power is his ability to defend, especially on the ball. I just want to keep seeing that while seeing him try to run the team on the other end. I’m not too concerned whether or not he’s scoring or shooting it at a high level right now.”

Legend of LeBron

Vezenkov was 8 years old when James made his NBA debut in 2003. Vezenkov grew up watching the future Hall of Famer from afar in Europe, but he got up close and personal when James guarded him in the first quarter Sunday.

“To be able to share the court with him is like a dream,” Vezenkov told The Sacramento Bee before the game. “But from the other side, he’s playing for his team, we’re playing for our team, so we have to go and compete.”

Up next

The Kings will have two days off before visiting the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Chase Center in San Francisco. Stephen Curry scored 41 points to help the Warriors hand the Kings a 122-114 loss in their home opener Friday night.

The Kings and Warriors are no strangers to each other after clashing in a contentious seven-game playoff series in April. This will be the 12th time the Kings have faced the Warriors in their last 17 preseason, regular season and playoff games.