There was a blur flying across the Quicken Loans Arena court Friday evening. His name is De’Aaron Fox.
The Kings’ starting point guard put on a show in front of Cavs fans, slicing through Cleveland’s defense for 30 points,12 assists, three steals and just one turnover in just 29 minutes of action.
It all started in the opening moments of the first quarter when Fox drilled a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Sacramento. The shot appeared to energize the 20-year-old guard and he took off from there, leading his team to a 129-110 victory on the road.
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“If I make my first three, then I kind of know I’m going to have a really good game shooting the ball,” Fox said during his postgame interview. “I made it and it just kept going.”
Fox knocked down 4-of-5 from behind the arc and hit 12-of-16 overall. When he’s hitting his shots, it opens up the running lanes, which opens up the passing lanes.
In addition to the scoring outburst, Fox dished out 12 assists, joining James Harden, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday as the only four players in the league to post multiple 30-point, 10-assist games this season.
NBA
“I get off more from getting my guys involved,” Fox said. “I’ve been able to score my whole life, just getting people involved is a better feeling to me.”
According to the Kings, Mike Bibby was the last Kings player to drop two or more 30-point, 10-assists performances in a season, achieving the feat during the 2005-06 season. He also set the highest mark by a Kings player through 24 games since Tiny Archibald during the 1972-73 season.
“Both of those guys are legends, especially Kings legends,” Fox said. “It’s an honor just to be in the same sentence with those guys and I know I have such a long way to go.”
Archibald, an NBA legend and a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, tossed in 16 30-point, 10-assist performances in the first 24 games in 72-73 and accomplished the stat 46 times overall that season.
Fox came into the night in a bit of a downturn. Over his last seven games, the former Kentucky star averaged just 13.3 points per game, although he posted nearly 8.6 assists over the stretch.
“I definitely think I had a little slump, the last four or five games, but that’s the NBA,” Fox said. “Everybody’s not going to play well for 82 games and I feel like I kind of shot my way out of it today.”
With the accurate night from the perimeter, Fox is now shooting 41 percent from behind the arc and he has the Kings off to a surprising 13-11 start to the season.
Sacramento doesn’t have to wait long to see if Fox’s shooting carries over to the next game. They left Cleveland following the win and headed for Indiana where they’ll take on the Pacers Saturday evening on the second night of a back-to-back.