De’Aaron Fox poured in a game-high 28 points in 36 minutes in his return from a five-game absence, Domantas Sabonis missed a triple-double by one rebound and the Sacramento Kings ran away from the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers early for a 132-120 victory Monday night.
After going for 39 and 37 points in his last two games before suffering a sprained right ankle, Fox came out firing in his return, tipping in his own miss just 11 seconds into the game. He made 11 of his 20 shots overall and added six assists.
Seeking a second consecutive win for the first time this season, the Cavaliers went up 19-16 on a Caris LeVert 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
But Sabonis immediately countered with two hoops and Sasha Vezenkov buried a pair of 3-pointers among eight points, all while the Cavaliers were being held to six over the final 5:04 of the period, propelling the hosts lead by as many as 10 points in the quarter.
The Kings eventually led by as many as 21 before coasting to a third straight win, all at home, after having dropped three in a row, all on the road.
Sabonis finished with 23 points and a game-high 10 assists to go with his team-high nine rebounds for the Kings, who head on the road for six straight.
Keegan Murray (25 points) and Kevin Huerter (20) were the two other Kings starters with 20 or more points, while Malik Monk (13) and Vezenkov (11) reached double figures off the bench.
All five Kings starters made at least half of their shots, helping Sacramento shoot 59 percent for the game. The Cavaliers lost despite making 49.5 percent of their shots.
The hosts also were hot from beyond the arc, with Huerter going 6-for-9 and Murray 5-for-8 in the team’s 20-for-42 performance. Sacramento outscored Cleveland 60-48 on threes.
All five Cavaliers starters scored in double figures, led by Donovan Mitchell with 22 points. He shot just 7-for-21 from the field, however.
Evan Mobley recorded a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for Cleveland, which was playing its third of four in a row on the road. Fellow starters Max Strus chipped in with 19 points, Darius Garland 16 and Jarrett Allen 12.
Levert (21) and Georges Niang (12) had double-figure scoring games off the bench to give the Cavaliers seven players with 12 or more points.
–Field Level Media
