🏀 Sacramento Kings and Keegan Murray Rise Out the Blocks Victorious, Deconstruct Jazz 118-101 On the Road

PA DIGITALIZED Sports COMMENTARY 🎙

.PUBLIC RECORD – 30 –

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.T. ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌ ‌|‌ Public Information Officer

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“It’s still not smooth as I would like and I don’t think they as they would like. All in all, I told them at halftime, ‘We’ll work on that. The most important thing is that we win the game.’”

– Sacramento Kings interim coach Doug Christie, 2.26.2025.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Sacramento, Calif. — Third-year power forward Keegan Murray does his best to get all the leftover points he can scrap together while playing with three All-Stars on the Sacramento Kings’ roster.

The Iowa product had a season-high 26 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocked shots in the Sacramento Kings’ 118-101 triumphs over the Utah Jazz on Feb. 26. Murray made 9 of 16 buckets from the field, 5 of 10 in 3-point territory, and 3 of 4 at the foul line in 32 minutes.

Murray said he is paving a way for himself as the team takes shape for the last 24 games of the regular season.

“It’s a different role for sure since the last couple of years. I’m still trying to figure it out,” Murray said of the recent changes. “We got a lot of new guys since the trade deadline. I’m just trying to find my way. Today, it was just me coming off pin downs, getting more involved, and scoring efficiently,” he shared after the game.

Former All Stars Zach Lavine had 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and DeMar DeRozan added 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists, for the Kings who improved 30-28 on the season (15-14 on the road). Jonas Valančiūnas had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists off the bench.

The Kings won their first game on a 4-game road trip and are 17-10 under the guidance of interim leader Doug Christie.

Walker Kessler scored 25 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and handed out 5 assists for the Jazz (14-44, 7-22 at Delta Center). KJ Martin added 16 points and Brice Sensabaugh finished with 12 points.

It was 22-all at the end of the 1st quarter. The Kings committed four turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game.

LaVine scored 8-straight points to give the Kings a 48-36 advantage in the second quarter. Sacramento led by 14 points before ending the first half with a 55-46 margin. LaVine and Murray scored 13 points each in the first 24 minutes of action, making 3 treys apiece during the process. The Kings had a 32-21 rebounding edge.

Sensabaugh’s 3-pointer cut the Kings lead 60-59 at the 7:45 mark of the 3rd quarter. Sacramento reassembled with a 17-5 run, stamped by a basket by LaVine. Jonas Valančiūnas ended the frame with a 25-foot three to give the Kings an 83-69 advantage.

LaVine’s 3-point basket gave the Kings their biggest lead at 102-80 with 7:38 left to play.

The Jazz were without John Collins, Collin Sexton,and Lauri Markkanen.

PA OBSERVATIONS:

* Keon Ellis felt good enough to play against the Jazz since he left the game in the 1st half with an ankle injury in the contest with the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 24 in Sacramento. He had 11 points

* The Kings committed 9 turnovers (7 in the 1st quarter) in the first half. Sacramento had only 3 miscues handling the basketball in the 2nd half.

– Publicity Agents 30 –

TAKEAWAYS

Kings: From 57 rebounds, three players had 8 or more rebounds (Domantas Sabonis and Monk’ 9, Lavine’s 8). Murray and DeRozan cleared the glass 6 times, each.

Jazz: made 9 of 17 shots at the free-throw line (52.9%).

KEY MOMENTS

Jordan Clarkson missed his first 13 shots from the field before making a layup with 1:09 remaining in the game. He was 0 of 8 shooting beyond the arc.

KEY STATS

Kings commanded a 50-40 upper hand in the paint and had 19 second-chance points to the Jazz’s 11.

UP NEXT

As part of their 4-game road trip, the Kings play the Houston Rockets on March 1. The Jazz play the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Feb. 28.

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