The new and improved Sacramento Kings spoiled the homecoming of Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield on Wednesday night, with Harrison Barnes scoring 22 points and Malik Monk 20 in a 137-114 romp over the visiting Indiana Pacers.
De’Aaron Fox went for 19 points and Domantas Sabonis put up an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double against his old mates, helping the Kings snap a three-game losing streak.
Making their first return to California after being headliners in the six-player trade that brought Sabonis west, Haliburton had nine points and a game-high-tying 10 assists for the Pacers, while Hield poured in 17 points.
Indiana’s Jalen Smith connected on a 3-pointer and Andrew Nembhard dropped in a layup for the first two field goals of the contest, but Keegan Murray’s three-point play in the game’s third minute gave Sacramento its first lead, and the Kings never trailed again.
Making 10 first-half 3-pointers, Sacramento led by as many as 17 in the first quarter and 62-48 at the break, rendering the second 24 minutes mostly an individual-numbers competition between ex-Pacers and ex-Kings.
Sabonis, the game’s leading rebounder, fought foul trouble to record his double-double in just 23 minutes, while also finding time for a team-high seven assists.
Barnes and Monk each went 6-for-9 from the field, while Fox was 7-for-11 for the Kings, who outshot the visitors 50.5 percent to 40.0 percent.
In all, seven Kings scored in double figures, including Terence Davis with 15, Murray 14 and Kevin Huerter 13.
The 137 points equaled Sacramento’s second-most this season. The Kings crushed the Brooklyn Nets 153-121 on their last homestand.
Haliburton shot just 4-for-13 en route to his second-lowest point total of the season, while Hield hit 3 of 8 3-point attempts to account for more than half of his scoring.
Smith and rookie Ben Mathurin shared team-high scoring honors for Indiana with 22 points apiece. T.J. McConnell matched Haliburton’s 10-assist total.
The 137 points allowed tied the most this season against the Pacers, who fell to 1-2 on a seven-game tour of the Western Conference.
–Field Level Media
