Domantas Sabonis ties double-double record to help Kings secure big win over Orlando Magic

Coming off a loss to the NBA’s worst team, the Sacramento Kings put together an encouraging bounce-back effort against the league’s hottest team Saturday night in Orlando.

The Kings escaped with a last-second, 109-107 win over the Orlando Magic at Kia Center, finishing their penultimate road trip of the season 2-1 and on a good note following Thursday’s ugly loss to the Washington Wizards.

Saturday provided another peak into Sacramento’s roller-coaster campaign as they took down the surging Magic, the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference riding a five-game winning streak and having the NBA’s best defensive rating since the All-Star break.

It was a similar road victory to beating the defending champion Denver Nuggets to avoid a three-game losing streak just before the All-Star break in February. And to beating top-seeded Minnesota on March 1 with De’Aaron Fox sidelined due to injury. It was another sign the Kings are able to respond to some of their most frustrating moments.

After Saturday’s win, Mike Brown quoted Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who said something that stuck out to the Kings’ coach after winning his first championship with Denver last June.

“One of the things he said was you got to hit some adversity,” Brown said. “And you got to fight your way through adversity. And sometimes you’re going to fail, but if you eventually break through that adversity, (that’s) what propels you to heights you can’t even imagine getting to.”

Of course, the main sources of frustration for Sacramento are the lapses against inferior teams. But there’s a feeling around the team that once the playoff lights get bright, they won’t have the same letdowns that come over an 82-game season.

“We knew we didn’t perform to our level,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said. “We’ve been doing that against teams that are lower in the standing. We weren’t worried about tonight. We know everybody shows up when (we’re facing) a good team. But we can’t have that throughout the season because it’s important for our playoff seeding.”

Saturday was a night replete with big offensive plays, including a big stepback jumper from Keon Ellis, after it appeared the possession stalled with star forward Paolo Banchero guarding him, giving Sacramento a five-point lead with 1:59 remaining.

The game also included a gutsy effort from Fox, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Keegan Murray scored 22 points and Ellis had a career-high 19.

Sabonis had his 53rd consecutive double-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, tying Kevin Love’s record for the longest single-season streak since the ABA-NBA merger.

“That’s the thing about it, is it’s extremely difficult,” Brown said of Sabonis. “It’s unheard of. And I’ve been around great players, Hall of Fame players, that didn’t have a chance to get this record that Domas is chasing. But he works so hard and he is the definition of consistency. I can see why others who aren’t around him don’t really feel like it’s a big deal because he makes it look easy. It’s like normal for him.”

Magic guard Cole Anthony had one of the biggest baskets of the game, scoring an off-balanced layup with 25.6 seconds remaining to give the Magic a 107-106 lead. It marked the game’s 18th lead change.

Then came a controversial foul on Jalen Suggs, who made contact with Fox before he stumbled into the backcourt following a timeout with 21 seconds remaining.

Fox made both free throws to give the Kings a 108-107 lead, setting up a chance for the Magic to win it with 21.2 seconds left. It was a foul that drew the ire of the Magic and the home crowd.

“I mean, he pushed me. Like, what are we talking about?” Fox said. “We’ve never seen Jalen Suggs back up from pressuring the ball. He literally pushes and he backs up to not get the call. I wasn’t trying to fall back. If I don’t fall back, they don’t call it.

“... (The referee) definitely would have let it go if I wasn’t by half court, but it’s either a foul or a backcourt violation and the foul happened first, so it’s a foul.”

The next possession was chaotic with the Magic hoisting two 3s, and getting two offensive rebounds, before Anthony missed a layup leading to Ellis’ rebound. He was fouled and sent to the free-throw line.

Ellis missed the first but made the second, leaving Orlando with a chance to extend the game down 109-107 with two seconds remaining. Banchero, who finished with 22 points while making just 1 of 6 from 3, hoisted a long 3 from the left wing that hit the side of the backboard.

Sacramento relied heavily on a zone defense against a team that came into the game ranked last in made 3s per game. The Magic went 10 of 35 from distance, good for 28.6%.

Both teams began throwing haymakers at the end of the third quarter after each team experienced long scoring droughts. Suggs hit a 3 from the right wing while getting fouled by Chris Duarte. Then Fox answered with a 3 from the left wing as the quarter expired, giving him 19 points and tying the game at 81 heading into the fourth quarter.

Fox opened the fourth quarter with another 3 and then threw down an alley-oop dunk from Malik Monk off a steal from Ellis. Fox wound up scraping his shooting thumb on the dunk, which required treatment and a bandage during the fourth quarter.

He later took a bump to the midsection and was clearly frustrated that it didn’t result in a foul.

Big man Jonathan Isaac got Orlando going with 10 points in the opening frame, which included a stretch where he blocked a Sabonis dunk, hit a corner 3 and had a pair of and-1 dunks while getting fouled by Monk.

Isaac made seven of his first 10 shots and scored 17 points in eight minutes before leaving to a standing ovation in the second quarter. He finished the game tying his career-high with 25 points.

Orlando shooting guard Caleb Houstan, who was starting in place of Gary Harris, left the game at halftime with a sore left ankle. Anthony started the second half in place of Houstan.

Brown and Monk address verbal dust up

There was a moment late in Thursday’s loss to the lowly Wizards in which Brown and Monk appeared to be at odds, which has been a somewhat regular occurrence throughout the season.

Both Brown and Monk addressed the situation before the game.

“It’s just us being us. ... Tell the fans don’t think about it too much,” Monk told The Sacramento Bee. “Me and Mike do this s--- all the time. ... I think that’s why we work so well together.”

Monk said he and Brown addressed the conflict after the game and came into Saturday with a clean slate. Aside from Monk, the Kings’ roster lacks big personalities, and there is a feeling that Monk’s mentality gives the team a needed element it otherwise lacks.

“Malik and I, we’re going to go at it,” Brown said. “And the neat part about it is he’s been through a lot. His mama raised him good. He doesn’t take anything personal and he knows I don’t take anything personal. And when you’re in the heat of the moment and your emotions are up and down, and down and up, and sideways and all over the place, sometimes you don’t have time to turn and look and exchange pleasantries.

“At the end of the day, he’s trying to win, I’m trying to wind, and we’re just trying to come to common ground on whatever happened out on the court 99.9% of the time. But the biggest thing, like I said, is he doesn’t take anything personal and neither do I. We talk about it and we keep it moving.”