Former Hawkeye Keegan Murray and the Sacramento Kings remain a mid-tier team after trading their franchise player in point guard De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs for Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine in a three-team trade on Feb. 2.
The Kings went 2-2 in games since that trade, though their offense has taken a small step back scoring-wise as they’ve only broken 120 points in one of the four matchups last week. But third-year forward Keegan Murray’s 19-point, seven-rebound performance along with one assist and one steal helped Sacramento overcome a striding Minnesota Timberwolves team in crunch time on the road, 116-114, on Monday.
The Orlando Magic traveled to California and took down the Kings at their house, 130-111, on Wednesday, though, and Murray logged just five points on 2-of-6 shooting along with six rebounds, one assist, and one block.
The Kings took a short trip north to Portland, Oregon, to take on the Trail Blazers on Thursday. While his brother, Kris Murray, didn’t see much time to fulfill the Murray brothers matchup this time around, Keegan put up 12 points, seven rebounds, and one assist as the Kings suffered the 108-102 loss.
Sacramento went back home and secured a Saturday night dub over the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-118. Keegan had one of his most aggressive shooting performances of the season, scoring 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting along with eight rebounds, three blocks, and two steals to aid a much-needed victory.
The Kings are tied for the ninth seed in the Western Conference with an even 26-26 record along with the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors, who are 10th and 11th in the West, respectively. A couple of losses could push them out of the top 10 teams.
Kris Murray
A rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers franchise has been the surprise of the NBA the past month after winning 10 of 11 games, putting themselves in reach of a play-in spot should their hot play continue. Second-year forward Kris Murray has played in most of those games, including three of the four games last week. However, his play remains minimal in meaningful games.
He didn’t see the floor in the 121-119 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. But he saw 10 minutes in the 112-89 win over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, going scoreless and securing just one board. Kris turned around and logged one assist in five minutes of action in the home victory over Keegan Murray and the Kings at home.
His 12 minutes in the 114-98 road loss to the Timberwolves on Saturday, mostly after the game had already been decided, resulted in nine points and three rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting. Portland’s six-game win streak was snapped with the loss.
After the recent hot streak, the Trail Blazers are now three-and-a-half games behind the Suns despite currently sitting at the 13th seed in the highly competitive Western Conference standings.
Luka Garza
Just like the Trail Blazers, the Timberwolves have been one of the hotter teams in the NBA throughout the last month, winning eight of their last 10 games, including three of four games last week.
Fourth-year center Luka Garza briefly appeared in all four games, which could be a sign that he’s becoming more trusted in the rotation, even though none of his four stints hit double-digit minutes.
The loss to the Kings on Monday saw Garza finish with four points, one rebound, and one steal on 1-of-5 shooting in five minutes of play. He posted another four-point, one-rebound outing — minus the steal — on four shots in seven minutes in the 127-108 win over the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.
However, in the next two games — a 127-114 win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday and the win over the Trail Blazers on Saturday — he went scoreless on four shots and six rebounds and two assists in 10 total minutes.
Minnesota’s recent play shot the franchise up to the sixth seed in the Western Conference standings. It’s now only half a game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers but is two games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and two-and-a-half games behind the Los Angeles Lakers.