National Basketball Association
Sacramento 138, Memphis 133
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, January 3, 2025
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Officials: #72 JT Orr, #82 Suyash Mehta, #39 Tyler Ford
Attendance: 16601

Malik Monk hit three key fourth-quarter 3-pointers to stall a Memphis rally as part of a 31-point night, DeMar DeRozan chipped in with 29 points and the Sacramento Kings earned a 138-133 victory over the visiting Grizzlies on Friday night.

The Kings, who improved to 3-1 under interim coach Doug Christie since Mike Brown was fired, led by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter. The Grizzlies, however, eventually drew even at 100-all on a pair of free throws by Jaren Jackson Jr. with 1:27 left in the period.

A tightly contested early fourth quarter saw the visitors go up 110-109 on two Scotty Pippen Jr. foul shots with 7:56 remaining in the game. That's when Monk hit his first big shot, a 23-footer with 7:23 left that put the Kings back on top for good.

The margin was just two before Monk connected again from deep a little more than two minutes later, creating some breathing room for the hosts at 121-116 with 5:20 to go.

Monk's third three capped a personal eight-point run that opened a 10-point advantage with 4:21 left.

Monk finished 6-for-12 on 3-point attempts, helping the Kings gain a 63-51 advantage in points from beyond the arc. DeRozan had four 3-pointers, Trey Lyles made four in four attempts to account for a majority of his 16 points, and Domantas Sabonis hit three to pad his 17-point total.

Sabonis also found time for a game-high 10 rebounds, a team-high-tying six assists and two blocks as Sacramento won its third game in a row. De'Aaron Fox added 23 points, five assists and three steals, and Keon Ellis' 13 points and three steals aided the cause.

Rookie Jaylen Wells poured in a season-best 30 points while Jackson (28) and Desmond Bane (22) also topped 20 points for the Grizzlies, who were playing the front end of a Northern California back-to-back. They will resurface Saturday night at Golden State.

Bane also had eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals, while Brandon Clarke snatched eight rebounds to go with 11 points.

Pippen totaled 16 points and Luke Kennard 11 to complement a team-high-tying eight rebounds and a team-high nine assists for the Grizzlies, who fell to 2-2 on a five-game trip.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Memphis   Sacramento
Jaylen Wells 30 Scoring Malik Monk 31
Luke Kennard 9 Assists Malik Monk 6
Brandon Clarke 8 Rebounds Domantas Sabonis 10
Desmond Bane 8 Free Throws Made De'Aaron Fox 8
Desmond Bane 2 Steals Keon Ellis 3
Desmond Bane 1 Blocks Trey Lyles 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Memphis 133 48.3 17-37 30-36 31 51 4 5 17
Sacramento 138 49.5 21-47 19-23 32 37 8 10 10
Upcoming Games
  • Sacramento will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Kings have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .450 after a loss.
  • Memphis will play their next game on the road against Golden State. The Grizzlies have a W/L % of .565 after a win and .833 after a loss.