Rudy Gobert took a step aside Domantas Sabonis for a layup from the left resulting in two of his 16 points with 2:20 left in the third quarter Friday. Gobert came away with an elbow to Sabonis’ throat, cut the Minnesota Timberwolves’ deficit to 81-79 and unknowingly changed the game with one blow.
Monk Malik seethed with lack of whistle for his big man. He told the nearest manager and was loud enough to be heard on the broadcast. Gobert trotted to the opposite end of the field and shoved Monk in the process.
Monk responded with a few words – presumably NSFW – then dropped 32 of his season-high 39 points to raise the score. Kings of Sacramento to a 124-120 overtime victory over the top-seeded team in the Western Conference. He landed some timely baskets en route to his second highest-scoring game with the Kings and his 35 second-half points were a career high for any half. Monk cemented himself as a contender for Sixth Man of the Year with this performance.
Malik Monk got BUCKETS tonight in the Kings’ overtime win ????????
39 PTS (high season)
16-29 FGM
5 p.m. 3 p.m.
4AST pic.twitter.com/QrD0G1yvrl-NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2024
Sacramento handed over the Timber wolves their seventh home loss of the season, largely fueled by Monk’s dominance of the Minnesota defense, and are thus far the only team to beat them twice at home.
“I had to go,” Monk said of his performance. “Someone other than Domantas (Sabonis) and Keegan (Murray) was going to have to step up. I think me and Davion (Mitchell) did that, especially with the second unit. Trey (Lyles) made some big plays. But yeah man, I just knew I had to go at some point and I was getting to the lane and midrange and the flow opened things up for me.
Monk had four points with just over three minutes left in the third period. He finished his night with a game-high 39 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal in 33 minutes of action, all off the bench. He shot 16 of 29 from the field and 5 of 8 from behind the arc.
The former Kentucky product stepped in to guide the Kings at fellow Wildcat De’Aaron Foxabsence. Fox missed his second straight game with a left knee contusion he suffered in Monday night’s loss to the Miami heat.
“I think it was a decisive victory,” Monk said. “Even if (Anthony Edwards) went off and they had one of their All-Stars leave at halftime, I still think it was a declared victory because we didn’t have one of our All-Stars and Domantas came out late. I mean, we just stuck together man, it was a team effort. We had a little team meeting before leaving yesterday to Denver.
“To talk about it, we had to take it seriously because we have 23 games left, I think now. … We knew we had to come together and just outwork somebody.”
After scoring 11 points, two rebounds and two assists on 2-of-11 shooting, Edwards was ruled out at halftime for personal reasons. But Sacramento was also missing its best player, Fox, who averaged 31.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 2.6 steals in his last five games on 52.1 percent shooting.
Sabonis also briefly came out after taking a knee from Karl-Anthony Towns in the middle late in the third quarter before returning in the fourth. He continued his streak of 42 straight double-doubles before fouling out with 21 points, 15 rebounds and a team-high eight assists and three blocks.
The players-only meeting Monk alluded to helped manifest this victory.
“I. Fuck. I love it,” coach Mike Brown said during his postgame press conference. “I’ve talked internally to our front office, to our coaches and even to our team . We will not reach the heights we can reach until you take ownership. As a head coach, you can only push and carry the group so far. There has to be a moment in time where it comes from within. They talk to each other, hold each other accountable, and take ownership of everything that happens in front of them.
“So for them to have this for the first time. Man, I actually went out for drinks last night. It was partly because of that,” Brown said with a laugh.
Friday was a great example of his team taking ownership. Especially after the disappointing loss at Golden 1 against a shorthanded Heat team without Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro And Terry Rozier. Which was followed by a Denver Nuggets beating by 21 points, which the Kings were at one point trailing by 32.
Without Fox, Sacramento played inspired basketball while one of its two leaders watched from the bench.
“I’ll tell you what, it was a great win for us on the road,” Brown said.
“I thought tonight we did a good job playing fast. … But I thought our physical level really showed tonight. We were extremely physical in both halves and one way to show that was there were 11 50-50 balls and we made eight of them. For us, it’s huge.
Keon Ellis – who started in place of Fox and has seen his minutes fluctuate this season – has spearheaded Sacramento’s physicality. His game-high four interceptions earned him the Defensive Player of the Game crown. Including two occurring in the first minutes of the match.
“Thanks to Keon for staying ready,” said Mitchell, who tied his season high with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. “He hasn’t played in a long time, and he came out and set the tone for us to win this match. Throughout the game, we kind of figured out his defensive pressure.
Staying ready is a common theme for Ellis. The former Alabama star went from being on a two-way contract after going undrafted in 2022 to recently signing a three-year deal.
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But back to the Monk’s mastery. The Fox fourth quarter became a phenomenon last season. Friday’s fourth quarter, however, belonged to Monk as he scored 18 of his 39.
“You know, without Fox, we had to generate points from somebody,” Brown said. “For us, the fact that Malik scored 39 points in overtime was huge. He was just fantastic offensively for us, especially down the stretch.
“Great teams always have two or three guys like that, where sometimes there’s no need to call a play. You just say, ‘Here’s the ball.’ Go make a play for yourself or your teammates. And Malik did that.
Although he couldn’t connect on a game-winning 3-point attempt from 29 feet, Monk capped off his dominant night by outscoring the Timberwolves in overtime himself. He made up for his failure in regulation by sinking both of his attempts from long range, while Minnesota was held to five points as a unit over the final five minutes of the game.
GREAT back to back triples for our 6MOTY. pic.twitter.com/GX5OLLGq6B
– Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) March 2, 2024
“Man, Malik is an incredible player, he does everything for us,” Mitchell said. “He succeeds.”
(Photo: David Berding/Getty Images)
