Bane scores 31, Morant 22 as Grizzlies beat Kings 125-110
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Desmond Bane made six 3-pointers and scored 31 points as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the winless Sacramento Kings 125-110 on Thursday night.
Ja Morant added 22 points, six assists and five rebounds. Earlier this week, Morant and Bane each scored 38 to help the Grizzlies beat Brooklyn 134-124.
Brandon Clarke had 16 points, Tyus Jones added 14 and Jake LaRavia scored 13 off the bench for the Grizzlies (4-1).
De’Aaron Fox had 27 points and six rebounds to lead Sacramento. Harrison Barnes scored a season-high 20 points and rookie Keegan Murray added 18.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Sabonis has three double-doubles this season.
The Kings trailed by 16 early in the fourth quarter and cut it to six with 9:22 left before Memphis pulled away.
Sacramento is 0-4 under first-year coach Mike Brown, its worst start since opening 0-5 during the 2019-20 campaign. The Kings have lost six straight to Memphis dating to the 2020-21 season.
The Kings are one of three winless teams in the NBA. The others are the Lakers and Magic.
KENTUCKY CONNECTION
Fox and Malik Monk connected on alley-oops to each other on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. They were backcourt mates during the 2016-17 season at Kentucky. This is Monk’s first season in Sacramento after signing a $19 million, two-year deal last offseason.
MURRAY JOINS STARTING LINEUP
Murray made his first career start for Sacramento. The 22-year-old rookie from Iowa sat out the Kings’ season opener because of NBA health and safety protocols. He came off the bench against the Clippers and Warriors.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: Memphis announced Wednesday that F Ziaire Williams will miss an additional four to six weeks because of patellar tendinitis in his right knee. Williams, the 10th pick in the 2021 draft out of Stanford, has yet to play this season. … Sacramento’s bench was outscored 23-5 in the first half before receiving a spark from Monk.
Kings: F Chima Moneke became the first UC Davis basketball player to check into an NBA game. He played six minutes. … Sacramento ranked last in free throw percentage coming into Thursday. The Kings went 18 for 21 against Memphis.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Continue a four-game trip against Utah on Saturday.
Kings: Host the Miami Heat on Saturday.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports