Red hot: Kings guard Kevin Huerter has renewed confidence going into game against Hawks

Kings center Domantas Sabonis was answering a question about Kevin Huerter’s renewed sense of confidence the other night in Phoenix when Huerter happened to walk by.

“It’s great — it was exhausting cheering him up after every play,” Sabonis quipped, bringing a smile to Huerter’s face.

Huerter’s struggles over the first half of the season were well documented, but suddenly he looks like his old self as the Kings head into Monday’s game against his former team, the Atlanta Hawks, at Golden 1 Center.

The Kings (23-18) will be looking to snap a season-long four-game losing streak against the Hawks (18-23), who have won three in a row. Sacramento’s chances are always better with a hot-shooting Huerter.

The 25-year-old guard scored a career-high 31 points in Thursday’s 126-121 loss to the Indiana Pacers, going 11 of 17 from the field and 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Over the past three games, he has averaged 22.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 62.5% from the field and 55.5% from beyond the arc.

“Obviously, it feels good to see shots go in,” Huerter said. “I kind of trusted that it was only a matter of time with the right opportunity to prove that.”

Huerter acknowledged that confidence is key for a shooter.

“Yeah, it is,” Huerter said. “Over the course of the season, things go up and down, but definitely rhythm, confidence, opportunity, all that matters.”

Sabonis chimed in again.

“He’s also dressing better,” Sabonis said. “That helps.”

Hurter laughed.

“I’m just trying to be like Domas,” he said.

Huerter was a central figure in Sacramento’s offense last season as the Kings recorded the highest offensive rating in NBA history. He averaged 15.2 points while shooting 48.5% from the field and 40.2% from 3-point range, helping the Kings win 48 games to secure their first playoff berth since 2006. Over the first 34 games this season, Huerter averaged 9.9 points, shooting 38.3% from the field and 34.1% from long distance.

Huerter, who was relegated to the bench for five games before reclaiming his starting spot, admitted his confidence was a bit shaken earlier in the season.

“Yeah, you know, there’s a tough stretch and different things we’re doing within our team and different looks,” he said. “Again, just trying to make the most of my opportunities when I’m out there.”

Kings coach Mike Brown pointed to a Jan. 7 game against the New Orleans Pelicans as a turning point for Huerter. The Kings trailed by as many as 50 in a 133-100 loss, but Huerter never stopped hustling, finishing with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

“Kevin’s been a high-level shooter his whole career or his whole life probably,” Brown said. “He took a step back in that area, and I made a change to give him some time to figure it out, and it was great to see the New Orleans game. We were getting our behinds kicked and I kind of left him in there in the fourth quarter, and I thought he had a great game. That’s when he really started to get going.

“These last few games, he’s just starting to round back into shape, but he’s been back, or headed that way, in my opinion, since the New Orleans game, which is good to see and it’s extremely important for us because of the velocity that he plays with without the basketball. It causes a lot of headaches for our opponents with the pace that he brings in the halfcourt, and they have to always be aware of where he is. They have to close out hard, which allows him to get downhill and collapse the defense, because he does have a really high-level medium game, too.”