The Sacramento Kings won two of their last three games before the All-Star break thanks to positive contributions from Keegan Murray.
The third-year forward logged 11 points, five assists, three steals, two steals, and one block in the 129-128 overtime road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
The Kings traveled to New Orleans for a back-to-back against the Pelicans. Murray scored a minimal six points, along with seven rebounds, five assists and one block in the 119-11 win on Wednesday.
New Orleans got revenge with the 140-133 overtime win on Thursday. Despite the loss, Murray posted 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and one steal despite the Kings loss.
Sacramento is tied with the Golden State Warriors for the ninth seed in the Western Conference standings with a 28-27 record.
Kris Murray
The Portland Trail Blazers have cooled off as of late, dropping three straight games after winning 10 of their previous 11 games.
Second-year forward Kris Murray played in just one of the back-to-back matchups against the Denver Nuggets, finishing with six points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals while knocking down two of six shots in the 132-121 loss on Wednesday. Murray didn’t play in the 146-117 blowout loss on Monday.
Portland remains at the bottom of the Western conference standings with a 23-32 record — five games behind the Warriors and Kings for a play-in seeding.
Luka Garza
Minnesota Timberwolves center Luka Garza appeared in two of three games last week before the All-Star break.
The third-year big didn’t record a stat in his three-minute stint in the 128-107 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, but recorded eight points and eight rebounds on 4-of-7 shooting in 15 minutes to help the Wolves stump the Oklahoma City Thunder at home, 116-101, on Thursday.
Garza didn’t see the floor in a 103-101 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Minnesota remains one game behind the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference standings with a 31-25 record.