Kings deploy new rotation with Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter out in blowout win over Utah Jazz

The Kings didn’t get a 3-point barrage from Kevin Huerter or an alley-oop dunk from Malik Monk, but they welcomed two other players back from injuries and earned a much-needed win in the Western Conference playoff race.

De’Aaron Fox, Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes all produced 20-point games to lead the Kings to a 127-106 victory over the Utah Jazz in an Easter Sunday affair before a sellout crowd of 18,332 at Golden 1 Center.

Murray scored a game-high 25 points for the Kings (43-31), who moved into a tie for seventh in the West after falling to eighth with two tough losses to the Dallas Mavericks. Murray went 10 of 18 from the field and 5 of 12 from 3-point range.

Fox had 24 points, six rebounds and 12 assists. Barnes had 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, going 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to help the Kings overcome the absences of Huerter and Monk.

“I think anytime a guy like Malik is not playing, you can’t replace that necessarily — how dynamic he is offensively, his playmaking ability — so coming into this game, we had to do it as a collective,” Barnes said.

“We had to just rely on the pass. We knew it was going to come from somewhere, somebody getting hot and making shots, just everybody being ready, and moving forward, just having the same mindset, trusting the pass, trusting our movement and relying on our offense to create offense for us.”

Domantas Sabonis posted 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Sabonis recorded his 57^th consecutive double-double, extending his record for the longest single-season streak since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Sabonis joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history with 1,000 rebounds and 600 assists in a season.

Collin Sexton and Brice Sensabaugh scored 22 points apiece for the Jazz (29-46), which has lost nine in a row. Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks each had 18 points.

The Kings played host to the Jazz a day after announcing Monk will be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks with a right MCL sprain. Monk, a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, is averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists. The loss of Monk came as another crippling blow for Sacramento with Huerter undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum.

“You can’t replace Malik,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “That’s tough. He did a lot for us and he could easily start for a lot of teams, but he was on the floor a lot of times down the stretch in our games, so to think that one person is going to come in and replace him, it’s not possible, so we have to do it by committee. It’s just the next guy up, and if your number is called, you have to go play within what you do and play your role as best you can.”

Forwards Trey Lyles and Sasha Vezenkov were back in action after extended absences. Vezenkov missed 22 games with a grade-3 right ankle sprain. Lyles missed nine games with a left knee sprain.

Lyles scored 11 points, going 3 of 5 from 3-point range, with four rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot. Vezenkov had five points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals.

“The size just helps especially on the glass, and both those guys, whether they come up with it or not, they’re battling,” Brown said. “They’re hitting bodies. They’re guys who are both used to taking big shots. They both are really, really good 3-point shooters. You’ve got to guard them outside that line, so it opens up the floor a little bit more for everybody else.

“And then, defensively, they’re going to play their behinds off. They’re going to try to play the right way and they’re going to play hard, and to have that kind of depth, especially veteran depth, is big for us at this point in the season.”

The Kings shot 53.6% from the field while holding the Jazz to 41%. They went 20 of 40 (.500) from 3-point range with nine different players hitting from long distance.

“I think for us, with guys missing, guys coming back, obviously with Trey and Sasha, we knew we would have some different lineups out there and coach told everyone to just have the green light to shoot and be aggressive,” Barnes said.

The Kings will continue to start Keon Ellis with Huerter and Monk out, but Murray, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward, will also spend time at the shooting guard spot. The same could be true for Fox, Chris Duarte, Colby Jones and Mason Jones.

“Yeah, Keegan will have to give us some minutes there, but we can also play Davion,” Brown said. “And, shoot, when Fox was out, we started Keon at the one, so we can slide Fox to the two to give our opponents a different look.

“We can definitely do it by committee with Fox, Keegan. We’ve got Duarte sitting there. We’ve got Colby sitting there. Mason Jones can help us some, too, so we’ve got guys we’re going to give an opportunity to and see what works well for us.”

Ellis finished with five points, eight rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Sacramento led 27-23 after shooting 55% in the first period while holding Utah to 42.1%. The Kings went up by 10 on a basket by Sabonis with 2:03 to go in the half. They led 56-52 at the break.

Murray and Sabonis scored 15 points apiece in the opening half. Fox had 10 points and seven assists.

Utah tied the game following back-to-back 3-pointers from Sensabaugh early in the third quarter. Sacramento responded with a 15-0 run to take a 73-58 lead on a pullup jumper from Fox. Barnes scored 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting with four 3-pointers in the third period to help the Kings open up a 21-point lead.

The Kings shot 54.2% in the third period and went 8 of 12 (.667) from 3-point range with 12 assists on 13 made baskets. They led 95-77 at the end of the third and were never threatened in the fourth. Brown noted that the Kings went 9 of 11 on spray 3s in the second half.

“The second half, they got off to a 6-0 run, (we) called a timeout, so I feel like we all kind of collectively locked in,” Murray said. “We found a series of plays that worked for us and we just stuck with that.”

Up next

The Kings will conclude a five-game homestand when they face the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at Golden 1 Center.

The Clippers (46-27) will be returning to the West Coast after beating the Charlotte Hornets 130-118 on Sunday. The Clippers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-107 on Wednesday and the Orlando Magic 100-97 on Friday.

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Kings and Clippers this season. The Clippers beat the Kings 131-117 on Nov. 29 in Sacramento and 119-99 on Dec. 12 in Los Angeles. The Kings picked up a 123-107 win on Feb. 25 in Los Angeles.

Upcoming schedule

April 2 vs. Los Angeles Clippers

April 4 at New York Knicks

April 5 at Boston Celtics

April 7 at Brooklyn Nets

April 9 at Oklahoma City Thunder