SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The third quarter of the Sacramento Kings' 125-104 victory over the Utah Jazz was unlike any other quarter in Kings history thanks to Keegan Murray.
With seven consecutive 3-pointers, he finished with 26 points en route to a franchise record of 12 made 3s, becoming the youngest NBA player to reach that mark at 23 years old. Murray's third-quarter burst also set a Sacramento record for most points and 3 seconds in a quarter, passing Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond for points and Harrison Barnes and Omri Casspi for 3s.
When the final buzzer sounded on Saturday, the second-year winger finished his career with 47 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers on 16 of 23 shooting and made 12 of his 15 three-pointers in 36 minutes. That's 69.6 percent from the field and 80 percent from distance. It was a special performance of pure basket winning as De'Aaron Fox was sidelined with right shoulder irritation.
“It kind of reminded me of senior year and college when I was getting hot,” Murray said of his third-quarter excitement. “You pass out for a while and it feels like everything you put together is going in.”
And don't worry, he has the match ball.
As Murray's historic night was unfolding in Sacramento, Klay Thompson, who held the league's all-time record for 3-pointers in a game, was changing into his street clothes after a Warriors win over the Brooklyn Nets in San Francisco when he was alerted by him was told reporters his sign could be in trouble.
“Ah, I don’t care,” Thompson joked as Murray was 11 of 12 from 3-point range in the third quarter. “Did he do it in 27 minutes?”
Of course, Thompson only needed 27 minutes to make 14 of 24 three-pointers in a record-breaking 149-124 win against the Chicago Bulls on October 29, 2018.
In the end, Murray didn't set the NBA record. But Thompson was alert and caught a glimpse of the Kings Jazz action on a television in the locker room as he made his way toward the exits. When he left the building, Sacramento was on the rise early in the fourth quarter, and it appeared as if coach Mike Brown – who spent six seasons as Steve Kerr's right-hand man with the Warriors before moving to the Kings last season – had Murray finally taken out.
“Well done, Mike B!” Thompson said with a smile. “A way to honor the basketball gods.”
As it turned out, Murray would come back into the game less than three minutes later. However, he had finally calmed down and missed his last two 3s before leaving the game with 2 minutes and 24 seconds left. Thompson wasn't the only legendary Warriors shooter following the Murray move.
Midway through the fourth quarter of the Kings game, Curry was at the podium in the middle of his postgame press conference 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 up the game on his phone. “Is he still 12?” To pull up…”
When it comes to 3-point volume and efficiency on a historic night of 3-point shooting, Curry knows as well as anyone how Murray must have felt. The league's all-time 3-point leader made 13 of 17 threes in a 116-106 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on November 8, 2016, breaking the then-record of 12 set by Donyell Marshall in 2005, and marked his current career high.
In his only 12-point outing – the epic “Bang, Bang!” overtime victory in Oklahoma City on February 27, 2016, which 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 gave Murray a chance to break Thompson's record. Although he missed both three-pointers in the final frame, he capped his night with a two-handed slam over Utah's Johnny Juzang.
“23 field goals and you score 47 points,” Brown said after the game. “And on top of that you make four free throws. That's crazy. A hell of a job by Keegan Murray and his teammates trying to find him tonight.”
When Brown finally pushed Murray out of the game for good, Golden 1 Center briefly booed before giving Murray a thunderous standing ovation.
“You're 25 points ahead, and if Keegan is down and injured, half the people who were yelling at me would call me an idiot,” Brown said with a grin on his face. “And who knows what would come after that. He had the chance to reach 50. I kept him a little longer than I probably should have.”
Fans were so euphoric during Murray's show that they even chanted the signature “Keegan Murray!” Chant usually reserved for Made-3s after fouling a Jazz player.
When he reached the bench, his teammates hugged him and gave him high-fives. But Fox, perhaps his biggest fan Saturday, and Malik Monk both reminded him that they were the team's veterans. Murray mistakenly tried to sit in Fox's spot, but then slid down a spot to his left and had Monk remind him that this was his spot.
Murray moved to the end of the bench but let Fox know he had surpassed his career high.
“We’re always competitive, me and (Fox),” Murray said, smiling occasionally. “I just told him I was at the peak of his career, but he told me he still has more 40-point games. … I mean, I'm still a young guy on this team. You certainly have more experience and have achieved more in this league than me.”
Kevin Huerter, no stranger to catching fire behind the arc, explained Fox and Murray's well-documented friendship as a “sibling rivalry.”
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“I honestly thought Fox would have gotten 50 sooner,” Huerter said. “So I looked up and thought, 'Are you going to be mad when Keegan turns 50?' and he said, “Actually, I think my career high is 44.”
“So, I’m happy for him. I don't think Keegan has much swagger in any of their matches this summer, but he's got that in his hands now. We’ll see how long it takes Fox to get to 48.”
With the way Fox has been playing lately, there's no telling when he'll bring honor back to one of his best friends on the team.
Monk didn't give up his spot to Murray, but he made sure to acknowledge him just before lighting the beam. Asked how they would have won without Fox, Monk replied: “No. 13, he’s pretty good.”
Entering Saturday, Murray was shooting 30.4 percent from distance, up from 41.1 percent in his rookie season. But after his 3-point win against the Jazz, he jumped to 35.5 percent in seven games in December – his best month this year.
“After playing offense this year, I feel like this game had a lot of emotions in it,” Murray said. “It’s just encouraging for me to move forward this season because of how good I can be offensively in this league.”
(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)