Mike Brown ‘baffled’ by De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis All-Star snubs as Kings top Pacers
Kings coach Mike Brown didn’t try to hide his disappointment a day after De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis were left out of the NBA All-Star Game.
Fox and Sabonis were considered two of the biggest All-Star snubs when reserves were announced Thursday. Brown was stunned by the decision given the numbers Fox and Sabonis have put up for the Kings, who are fifth in the Western Conference.
“Everybody knows that they’re more than deserving of getting a nod for the game,” Brown said. “They both have historic numbers that people in the past, anybody in the past that had those specific numbers, they were in the game, and so for them not to get the nod, obviously, in my opinion, it was wrong.”
The Kings took out their frustrations in a 133-122 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the All-Star Game will be held Feb. 18.
Sabonis had 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings (28-19), who improved to 4-1 on their current seven-game road trip. Sabonis recorded his 30th consecutive double-double, breaking Oscar Robertson’s single-season franchise record.
Brown was asked if the omission of Sabonis was even more unfortunate given that the All-Star Game will be played in Indianapolis, where Sabonis spent nearly five seasons with the Pacers.
“I didn’t think of it that way,” Brown said. “I just think it’s terrible wherever it is. It could be in Antarctica and it’s the wrong decision.”
Fox had 25 points and a career-high-tying six steals for the Kings, who will visit the Chicago Bulls on Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back.
Malik Monk overcame his recent struggles to score 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with five rebounds and six assists. Harrison Barnes scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting with four rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 31 points for the Pacers (27-23). Pascal Siakam scored 22 points. Buddy Hield had 17 points while Tyrese Haliburton added 14.
Brown didn’t mince words when asked if he was surprised Fox and Sabonis were bypassed by his fellow NBA coaches, who are tasked with selecting All-Star reserves.
“It should be surprising for anybody,” Brown said. “You’re talking about historic numbers. Not only that, I think we might be the only top-six team in both conferences to not have one All-Star, and I ain’t that good of a fricking coach. I got no magic dust to put on these guys. I’ve got fricking players and that’s what baffles me. It really baffles me.”
Fox and Sabonis were asked to share their feelings following the game.
“For me, I had no feelings,” Fox said. “I get to take a break, but for Domas, I definitely think he deserves to be there. He’s almost averaging a triple-double. I’m seeing stuff on Twitter like he’s putting up numbers that only (Nikola) Jokic and Wilt (Chamberlain) have put up, and I think he’s top 10 in the MVP race. I think the other nine guys were all All-Stars, so I definitely think he deserves to be there.”
Sabonis said he is more focused on winning.
“Obviously, it’s something that you would like to be a part of,” Sabonis said. “It’s always an honor being mentioned or being part of a group with that much talent and the best players in the league, but it didn’t happen and now all my focus is on winning a championship with this team and helping my teammates.”
Sabonis did exactly that against a Pacers squad that leads the league in scoring at 124.4 points per game.
Haliburton (hamstring), Mathurin (toe) and center Myles Turner (ankle) were all questionable going into the game. Turner was ultimately ruled out. Haliburton and Mathurin were cleared to play, but in a surprise move Pacers coach Rick Carlisle elected to bring Haliburton off the bench.
Carlisle started T.J. McConnell in place of Haliburton. The lineup change allowed Carlisle to better manage the distribution of minutes for Haliburton, who was limited to 22 minutes for the third game in a row after returning from a left hamstring strain.
Haliburton didn’t even play in the first quarter, but that didn’t stop the Pacers from getting into a shootout with the Kings. Indiana shot 70.8% in the first period. Sacramento shot 66.7%.
The Pacers led 39-38 when Haliburton checked in for the first time at the start of the second quarter. Indiana went up 47-43 on a basket by Haliburton, but Trey Lyles hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run for Sacramento.
The Kings led by as many as 11 late in the first half and carried a 71-64 advantage into the halftime break. The Pacers shot a sizzling 63.6% in the first half. The Kings weren’t far behind at 58.3%.
Sacramento went up by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before Indiana came back to cut the deficit to 11 going into the fourth.
The Pacers got within nine on a few occasions in the fourth. They finally managed to trim Sacramento’s lead to seven with just under a minute remaining, but Fox and Sabonis came up with big baskets to punctuate a quality road win.
Brown was still a little salty when he began his postgame news conference
“Let me talk about our two guys who aren’t All-Stars,” Brown said. “They were terrific for us. Domas is, I think, the 14th player in the history of the game who has recorded 30 straight double-doubles. That’s our first guy who didn’t get voted in. ... Fourteenth player in the history of the game — in the history of the game, not this season, in the history of the game — that recorded 30 straight double-doubles.
“And, obviously, Fox was brilliant. He tied his career high with six steals tonight. We track deflections. He had 11 of them himself. Two fantastic performances from both of those guys.”
Scouting Siakam
The Kings were involved in serious talks for Siakam before the Toronto Raptors traded him to the Pacers.
Siakam averaged 21.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in his first eight games for the Pacers, shooting 55.1% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range.
“Pascal fits in with the way they play because he gets out and runs,” Brown said. “He loves to run. He’s long. He’s athletic. He’s active defensively and he poses a different problem that they didn’t have before. So, you can’t look away from what they do as a team because of how fast they play and the head of the snake in Tyrese is setting up everybody up, and how athletic they are. That’s a problem and now have to be on high alert because Pascal has all those same attributes, but he can post up with the best of them and he can iso with the best of them, so it’s just added headaches for opposing coaches and teams.”
Ruled out
Rookie forward Sasha Vezenkov was ruled out for Friday’s game after being listed as questionable due to a right ankle sprain.
Vezenkov suffered the injury in a Jan. 22 win over the Atlanta Hawks. He has missed the past five games.
Vezenkov, the 2023 EuroLeague MVP, is averaging 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game. In January, he averaged 7.7 points while shooting 55.9% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range. He matched his season high with 14 points in a Jan. 16 loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Vezenkov said he is working closely with the team’s medical staff, but the injury was “a little more tricky than I thought.”
“We’re doing everything possible for my ankle,” Vezenkov said. “I was thinking it would be something minor, but unfortunately it was a little bit longer than I expected.”
Up next
The Kings will make the sixth stop on a seven-game road trip when they visit the Bulls on Saturday at United Center.
The Bulls are coming off a 117-110 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday behind a 35-point game from Coby White. They have won two of their last three.
DeMar DeRozan leads the Bulls in scoring at 22.0 points per game. Zach LaVine is averaging 19.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists. White (19.0 ppg), Nikola Vucevic (17.0 ppg), Alex Caruso (10.1 ppg) and Patrick Williams (10.0 ppg) are also scoring in double figures.
This is the first of two meetings between the Kings and Bulls. They will play each other again March 4 in Sacramento.
Upcoming schedule
Feb. 3 at Chicago Bulls
Feb. 5 at Cleveland Cavaliers
Feb. 7 vs. Detroit Pistons
Feb. 9 vs. Denver Nuggets
Feb. 11 at Oklahoma City Thunder
