Kings clobber Jazz thanks to Keegan Murray's career night

Field Level Media|published: Sun 17th December, 24:41 2023

December 16, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) shoots the basketball against Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) during the third quarter at Golden 1 Center. credits: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Keegan Murray established career bests of 47 points and 12 3-pointers, and the Sacramento Kings overcame the absence of star De'Aaron Fox to register a 125-104 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Murray connected on 16 of 23 shots from the floor and missed just three of his 15 3-point attempts. The 12 treys fell two short of the NBA record set by Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors in 2018.

Murray had the green light often with Fox out due to right shoulder irritation. Fox was injured while scoring 41 points during Thursday's victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Domantas Sabonis recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Sacramento won for the seventh time in the past 10 games. Malik Monk scored 18 points, Harrison Barnes had 16 and Kevin Huerter added 11 for the Kings, who led by as many as 30 points.

Collin Sexton scored a season-best 28 points for the Jazz, who dropped to 2-12 on the road. Lauri Markkanen had 18 points, Talen Horton-Tucker and Taylor Hendricks scored 12 points apiece and Kris Dunn added 11.

Murray departed with 2:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and Sacramento leading by 20.

Buddy Hield held the former Kings' record of 11 3-pointers in a single game, set Nov. 25, 2019, against the Boston Celtics.

Sacramento was 22 of 45 from 3-point range and shot 54.1 percent overall. Monk added four 3-pointers for the Kings.

Utah made 44.2 percent of its shots and was 12 of 37 from behind the arc.

Murray scored 26 points in the third quarter, when he hit 7 of 7 3-point attempts while going 8 of 9 overall.

He knocked down five treys in a span of 4:03 to stretch the Kings' lead from 13 to 89-68 with five minutes left in the quarter.

Later, Murray scored eight points in the final minute of the third, including two 3-pointers, as the Kings took a 106-76 lead into the final stanza.

Murray scored 19 first-half points as the Kings led 62-50 at the break. Sexton had 16 in the half for Utah.

Sacramento held a 35-23 lead after the first quarter before Murray scored 13 points in the second. The Kings' largest first-half lead was 16 on Barnes' 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining.

—Field Level Media