De’Aaron Fox sparks Kings with 28 points in return from injury

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – De’Aaron Fox had 28 points and six assists in his return after missing two weeks with an ankle injury, and the Sacramento Kings gave coach Mike Brown his 400th victory in career with a 132-120 decision against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Monday evening.

Domantas Sabonis added 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Kings, who swept the Cavs a season ago. Keegan Murray scored a game-high 25 points with five 3-pointers.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 22 points despite going scoreless in the first quarter. Caris LeVert scored 21 points and Max Strus scored 19.

Sacramento had six players in double figures, but the night belonged to Fox, who was repeatedly serenaded with “MVP! MVP!” chants in the second half.

Fox made an immediate impact, scoring the first points of the night on a driving layup 11 seconds into the game. An All-Star for the first time last season, Fox then scored on a putback and made a basket 3-pointer to help the Kings take a 33-25 lead.

Fox came out strong in the second quarter, then cooled off late before giving Sacramento’s offense another spark in the third quarter with eight points, including an emphatic one-handed dunk off a key bounce pass from Malik Monk .

Brown, who led the Kings to the 2023 playoffs in his first season with the team, improved his coaching record to 400-254. The historic win came against one of his former teams, as Brown coached Cleveland from 2005-10 and through the 2013-14 season.

Cleveland pulled to within 126-115 late in the fourth quarter before Fox’s three-point play with 1:26 left helped secure the victory.