Sacramento Kings’ Keegan Murray makes history with 12 3-pointers in career-high 47-point game
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The third quarter of the Sacramento Kings’ 125-104 win over the Utah Jazz was unlike any quarter in Kings history, thanks to Keegan Murray.
He found the bottom of the net on seven-straight 3-pointers for 26 points en route to a franchise record 12 made 3s, becoming the youngest NBA player to reach that mark at 23 years old. Murray’s third-quarter outburst also set a Sacramento record for most points and 3s in a quarter, passing Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond for points and Harrison Barnes and Omri Casspi for 3s.
When the final buzzer sounded Saturday, the second-year wing finished with a career-high 47 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers on 16-of-23 shooting and connected on 12 of his 15 triples in 36 minutes. That’s 69.6 percent from the field and 80 percent from distance. It was a special performance of pure bucket-getting as De’Aaron Fox was sidelined with right shoulder irritation.
“It kind of reminded me of last year and college when I would get hot,” Murray said of his third-quarter flurry. “You kind of just black out for a little bit, and it just feels like everything you put up is going to go in.”
And don’t worry, he got the game ball.
As Murray’s historic night unfolded in Sacramento, the owner of the league’s all-time record for 3-pointers in a game, Klay Thompson, was changing into his street clothes after a Warriors win over the Brooklyn Nets in San Francisco when he was alerted by reporters his mark may be in trouble.
“Ah, I don’t care,” Thompson joked when Murray was 11-of-12 from 3-point range in the third quarter. “Did he do it in 27 minutes?”
Thompson, of course, had needed just 27 minutes to hit 14 of 24 3s in a record-setting 149-124 win at the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29, 2018.
In the end, Murray didn’t set the NBA record. But Thompson was paying attention, catching glimpses of the Kings-Jazz action on a television inside the locker room while making his way toward the exits. When he left the building, Sacramento was up big early in the fourth quarter, and it appeared coach Mike Brown – who spent six seasons as Steve Kerr’s right hand man with the Warriors before joining the Kings last season – had taken Murray out for good.
“Good job Mike B!” Thompson said with a smile. “Way to honor the basketball gods.”
As it turned out, Murray would re-enter the game less than three minutes later. He had finally cooled off, though, missing his final two 3s before leaving the game with 2 minutes and 24 seconds left. Thompson wasn’t the only legendary Warriors shooter who was tracking the Murray action.
During the mid-fourth quarter of the Kings game, Curry was in the middle of his postgame news conference at the podium when he was asked about Murray’s outing.
“Up in Sacramento, Keegan Murray started 12-of-13 from 3,” the reporter began.
Curry’s eyes widened.
“He did what?!” he replied before asking a nearby reporter to pull the game up on his phone. “Is he still at 12? Pull it up…”
When it comes to 3-point volume and efficiency on a historic night of 3-point shooting, Curry knows what Murray must have felt like as much as anyone. The league’s all-time 3-point leader hit 13 of 17 3s in a 116-106 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 8, 2016, breaking the then-record of 12 set by Donyell Marshall in 2005 and marking his current career high.
In his only 12 3-pointer outing — the epic “Bang, bang!” overtime win at Oklahoma City on Feb. 27, 2016, that tied Marshall’s record — he did it on 16 attempts.
“It’s tough, because you have to find good looks and obviously stay hot the whole game,” Curry said.
Brown did give Murray a chance to break Thompson’s record. Although he did miss both 3s in the final frame, he punctuated his evening with a two-handed slam over Utah’s Johnny Juzang.
“23 field goals, and you score 47 points,” Brown said postgame. “And on top of that, you take four free throws. That is insane. Hell of a job by Keegan Murray and his teammates for trying to find him tonight.”
When Brown finally subbed Murray out of the game for good, Golden 1 Center briefly booed before giving Murray a raucous standing ovation.
“You’re up 25 points and, if Keegan’s on the floor and he gets hurt, half of the people that were yelling at me would be calling me names led by idiot,” Brown said with a grin on his face. “And who knows what would come after that. He had an opportunity to get 50. I kept him in a little longer than I probably should’ve.”
The fans were in such a state of euphoria during Murray’s showcase that they even shouted the signature “Keegan Murray!” chant, usually reserved for made 3s, after he fouled a Jazz player.
Once he did reach the bench, his teammates embraced him with hugs and high fives. But Fox, possibly his biggest fan Saturday, and Malik Monk both reminded him they were the vets of the team. Murray mistakenly attempted to sit in Fox’s seat, only to move down a seat to his left and have Monk remind him that was his spot.
Murray moved to the end of the bench, but made sure to let Fox know he surpassed his career high.
“We’re always competitive, me and (Fox),” Murray said, cracking the occasional smile. “I just told him I beat his career high, but he told me he has more 40-point games. … I mean, I’m still a young guy on this team. They have more experience and have done more in this league than I have, for sure.”
Kevin Huerter, who’s no stranger to catching fire from behind the arc, explained Fox and Murray’s well-documented friendship as a “sibling rivalry”.
“I honestly thought Fox had gotten 50 before,” Huerter said. “So, I looked up and was like, ‘Are you going to be pissed when Keegan gets 50?’ and he was like, ‘Actually, I think my career high is 44.’
“So, I’m happy for him. I don’t think Keegan has a lot of bragging rights from this summer for any of their matchups, but he’s got this on him now. We’ll see how long it takes Fox to get 48.”
The way Fox has been playing as of late, there’s no telling when he may snatch bragging rights back from one of his best friends on the team.
Monk didn’t give up his seat to Murray, but he did make sure to give him credit just before lighting the beam. When asked how they won without Fox, Monk said, “No. 13, he’s pretty good.”
Entering Saturday, Murray was shooting 30.4 percent from long range, down from his 41.1 percent mark during his rookie season. But after his 3-point barrage against the Jazz, he’s up to 35.5 percent through seven games in December – his best month this year.
“From how I’ve been playing offensively this year, I feel like this game was kind of a lot of emotions built into one,” Murray said. “It’s just encouraging for me moving forward this season with how good I can be offensively in this league.”