De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk shift Kings culture with unforgettable playoff debuts

Kings' Fox, Monk team up again for unforgettable playoff debuts originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

SACRAMENTO -- Kings guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk have been a tight-knit duo for the better part of a decade.

It began when they were playing together on the same AAU teams as teenagers in high school. It grew in college when they starred together at Kentucky. It continued into their professional basketball careers with Fox in Sacramento, and Monk -- selected six picks after his collegiate backcourt mate in the 2017 NBA Draft -- nearly 3,000 miles away in Charlotte.

On Saturday night, it was that same duo sitting together at the podium, minutes after two unforgettable playoff debuts in the Kings’ 126-123 victory over the Warriors in Game 1 of their NBA first-round playoff series.

It also was the playoff debut for Golden 1 Center. Sacramento, which ended its infamous playoff drought this season, hadn’t hosted a postseason game in 17 years. Fox and Monk ensured California’s capital city would be celebrating around the victory beam.

“That was my reason coming here: To change the culture with my homie,” Monk said after the win.

To say Game 1 was a culture-shifting win isn’t an overstatement. It definitely didn’t come easy.

The Kings’ starting five of Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis -- the same unit that played 162 more minutes than any other five-man lineup in the league this season – struggled mightily to start.

They missed their first 15 combined 3-point attempts. Sabonis was the only starter in double figures at halftime with a mere 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Murray couldn’t find the net.

Carrying the offensive load was Monk, with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the second quarter alone. He was the reason the Warriors’ lead was only six points at halftime.

“You can feel Malik’s confidence,” Kings coach Mike Brown said after the game. “We need that in games like this because he ain’t afraid of the moment.”

Fox, who entered halftime with nine points, turned it on after the intermission. He scored 14 points in the third quarter and joined his backcourt mate for an episode of “The Fox and Monk Show: Playoff Edition" in the fourth.

Fox and Monk both played all 12 fourth-quarter minutes and accounted for 28 of the Kings’ 35 points. Only three Kings fourth-quarter buckets -- two by Barnes and one by Sabonis -- weren't scored by the Kentucky duo. Fox notched an assist on two of the three.

“In the fourth quarter and at the end of a game, my teammates are confident in me to go out there and make plays for myself and others,” Fox said. “The least I can do is go out there and believe in myself.”

When all was said and done Saturday night, both players made history.

Fox, who finished with 38 points on 13-of-27 shooting, trails only Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić for the most points scored in a playoff debut (42).

Monk, with 32 points of his own, set a new NBA record for the most points scored by a reserve in his first postseason game, a record that stood since 2005 when Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon dropped 30 on the Washington Wizards.

Of course, the only stat that matters is the playoff win -- another milestone for the Kings' storybook 2022-23 season, one that hasn't been much of a surprise for the Kentucky duo.

RELATED: Monk says Kings' tense Game 1 win over Warriors 'wasn't easy'

“We knew we had a great chance as soon as I came here,” Monk said. “We’re just happy to be together. We stayed together all year. We laugh, have fun.”

“We laugh together, we have fun together, but we also go out there and we get on each other,” Fox added. “Him and Trey [Lyles] are probably the hardest on me, outside of the coaches on the team. It’s just the connection that we have.

“When you have guys on your team that will get on you but you know it’s out of love because they know what you can do, there’s not much more that you really want as a player.”

The Fox-and-Monk duo is far from the only reason why the culture has changed so quickly in Sacramento. But they are reasons No. 1 and No. 2 for the Kings holding a one-game-to-none first-round playoff series lead over the defending champs.