SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Keegan Murray made 12 3-pointers, two shy of the NBA record, and scored a career-high 47 points in the Sacramento Kings' 125-104 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Murray scored a franchise-record 26 points in the third quarter and had Klay Thompson’s NBA record of 14 3-pointers in his sights after making 12 of his first 13 attempts. But the second-year forward missed his final two attempts from behind the arc while becoming the seventh different player to make 12 or more 3s in a game.
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“I thought Keegan was playing the right way,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “There was nothing really forced. Our guys didn’t really force anything to him. They just hit him when he was open.”
Domantas Sabonis added 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, his seventh straight double-double and 20th this season. The Kings shot 22 of 45 from the 3-point line, the third time this season Sacramento made at least 20.
Colin Sexton scored 28 points Utah, and Lauri Markkanen had 18.
Sacramento took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Jazz 44-26. Murray broke the franchise record of 25 points in a quarter set by Mitch Richmond in the fourth period against Houston on Dec. 15, 1995.
“It kind of reminded me of my last year in college,” Murray said. “I’d get hot and I would just blackout for a little bit, and so everything would just go in. That’s kind of what happened in the third quarter.”
The Kings took their biggest lead of the game after Murray hit his 12th 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter with a 106-76 lead.
“Keegan never let us off the hook,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Every time you make a mistake, he makes the shot. The percentages will tell you, you know, that’s not necessarily realistic either, but it was one of those nights. And he’s obviously a very good young player and hats off to him.”
Murray scored 19 points in the first half as Sacramento led 62-50 going into the intermission.
“He’s just barely scratching the surface because he’s been asked to do something that he’s never been asked to do at the highest level,” Brown said. With his work ethic, his determination, his skill set and all that other stuff, he’s gotten a chance to be a high level player in a lot of different areas. Everybody’s just seeing a little bit of it now so there’s a ton of room to grow for sure.”
Sacramento starting point guard De’Aaron Fox was out with right shoulder irritation. Utah guard Jordan Clarkson missed his third straight game with a right hamstring strain and John Collins missed his fourth straight game with an illness.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Host Brooklyn on Monday night.
Kings: Host Washington on Monday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba