De’Aaron Fox recorded 24 points and seven assists to help the Sacramento Kings notch a 106-103 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.
Buddy Hield scored 14 points and Marvin Bagley III added 13 points and 11 rebounds as Sacramento won its second straight game to start the season. Nemanja Bjelica tallied 12 points, Harrison Barnes had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Richaun Holmes added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Kings.
Devin Booker scored 26 points for the Suns. Chris Paul registered 22 points and 12 assists, Jae Crowder had 17 points and eight rebounds and Deandre Ayton contributed nine points and 12 rebounds.
Holmes made two free throws with 49.6 seconds left to give the Kings a two-possession lead at 104-100. Hield made two of four free throws down the stretch and the Suns wouldn’t score again until Paul’s 3-pointer as time expired.
The Kings held a 56-40 rebounding advantage and shot 45.3 percent from the field, including 5 of 23 from 3-point range.
Phoenix shot 41.8 percent from the floor and was 11 of 44 from behind the arc.
The two teams meet again Sunday night in Sacramento.
The Kings led 87-79 after Bjelica’s basket early in the fourth quarter before the Suns responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points to move within one with 7:42 left.
Sacramento pushed its lead to 95-90 on Fox’s basket with 4:48 remaining. A short time later, Hield’s steal and layup gave the Kings a 99-95 advantage with 2:27 left.
Holmes’ three-point play gave the Kings a 102-97 lead with 1:43 to play.
Sacramento scored the first 11 points of the game but the Suns caught up at 33 on Paul’s basket with 9:56 left in the first half.
The Kings led 58-54 at the break before Phoenix used an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 65-62 lead. The Suns later led 74-70 after Booker’s basket with 4:50 remaining in the stanza before Sacramento closed with a 13-5 push to take an 83-79 edge into the fourth quarter.
WINNING STREAK
Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists as the Indiana Pacers shrugged off a slow start with two huge scoring runs to put together an easy 125-106 road victory Saturday over the Chicago Bulls.
T.J. Warren added 23 points and Victor Oladipo had 22 as the Pacers earned their 10th consecutive victory over the Bulls going back to the 2018-19 season and won for the fifth consecutive time at Chicago.
The Pacers reeled off a 21-0 run in the second quarter and an 18-0 run to open the second half.
Zach LaVine scored 17 points and Lauri Markkanen added 16 points with nine rebounds for the Bulls, who were humbled for the second consecutive game. Chicago trailed by as many as 40 points in a season-opening defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Malcolm Brogdon had 18 points for the Pacers, who led 99-71 after three quarters while playing on the road for the first time after a season-opening victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday.
Coby White had 12 points and Denzel Valentine added 11 for the Bulls, who are off to an 0-2 start after two home games and have another at home Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.
The Bulls got off to a solid start, taking an eight-point lead in the first quarter at 18-10 and a six-point advantage in the second quarter at 40-34 before the Pacers got red hot. Pressuring the Bulls on defense, the Pacers went on a 21-0 run in the second quarter to take a 55-40 lead.
Warren scored 12 of his 17 first-half points in the opening quarter for the Pacers, while Sabonis had 14 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter as Indiana took a 66-56 lead into the break. Markkanen scored 14 points in the first half for the Bulls. The Pacers took an 84-56 lead with their offensive outburst to open the third quarter as the Bulls did not score for nearly five minutes into the second half.*
