Five seconds. This is how long it took to De’Aaron Fox to signal his return. The midfield of the game between Kings and Cavs had barely been played when the Californian leader wanted to mark his territory from the start, attacking Darius Garland and the circle, missing the target for the first time before take the offensive rebound.
After two weeks of absence due to a sprained ankle, the Kings star returned to the project he had started. “ It’s good to be able to go out on the field and contribute. When you’re injured and you’re not playing and you’re just watching, you want to be on the field helping the team “, delivers the leader who, before getting injured, had recorded performances of 39, then 37 points.
He had been able to resume playing in three-on-three in recent days, before participating in a full training session the day before the match.
“ I’ve had an ankle sprain before, some of the pain won’t go away over the next few months. I had no pain when I got up this morning. I felt good enough to go out there and impact the game. If I didn’t feel like I could positively impact the game, I wouldn’t have played. »
His influence on the Kings’ game was instantaneous. Thanks to his constant harassment work, wanting to attack the circle, he drew attention to himself for generating spaces for his teammates. “ I think I have a certain power of attraction, to go into the racket and try to make things easier for others. […] Sometimes they look at me and I’ll be like ‘Guys, my defender is standing right there, you have so much space. It’s like four-on-four’ », continues the leader.
An attack at half mast without him
Hence the art of standing back, even if De’Aaron Fox finished with the highest volume of shots on his team: 11/20 including 2/6 from distance, for 28 points and 6 assists (one only ball lost). In his wake, the Kings reached 132 points scored. A more usual total for the Californians who painfully averaged 102 points in the five games missed by their leader.
“ I think when I play, the pace picks up a little. Despite the fast pace at which we played this evening, we lost 10 balls. If we play like that, I feel like it’s hard to beat us », continues the person concerned, logically congratulated by his coach, Mike Brown: “ His game and ours will start to bring him the recognition he deserves. The crazy thing is, he’s only scratched the surface of what he can be. When he gets there, watch out. »
And pay attention more broadly to the Kings who, with this victory, the third in a row, now have a positive record (5v-4d), and better than last year at the same stage (3v-6d). Even if the 2023 course finished in the playoffs puts “ a little weight » on everyone’s shoulders, De’Aaron Fox remains convinced that his team ” can compete with anyone “.
“ Particularly with our offensive weapons. We know we have to hang on in defense. With our attack, we can compete against anyone. That’s never been the problem, we already feel like we can win matches with that alone. But if we are able to take a step forward in defense, that makes us a top team. “.
| De’Aaron Fox | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2017-18 | BAG | 73 | 28 | 41.2 | 30.7 | 72.3 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 11.6 |
| 2018-19 | BAG | 81 | 31 | 45.8 | 37.1 | 72.7 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 7.3 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 17.3 |
| 2019-20 | BAG | 51 | 32 | 48.0 | 29.2 | 70.5 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 6.8 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 21.1 |
| 2020-21 | BAG | 58 | 35 | 47.7 | 32.2 | 71.9 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 7.2 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 25.2 |
| 2021-22 | BAG | 59 | 35 | 47.3 | 29.7 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 23.2 |
| 2022-23 | BAG | 73 | 33 | 51.2 | 32.4 | 78.0 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 25.0 |
| 2023-24 | BAG | 3 | 36 | 48.6 | 37.5 | 81.0 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 31.3 |
| Total | 398 | 32 | 47.3 | 32.2 | 73.7 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 20.3 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
