Sacramento Kings DeMar DeRozan third from right , goes to take a shot against the Chicago Bulls defenders Lonzo Ball (2), Jalen Smith (7) and Josh Giddy front left in first half action at the United Center in Chicago on Sun Jan 12, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Sacramento Kings (20-19) are on a mission right now. They just won their seventh game in a row beating the Chicago Bulls (18-21) 124-119 after a win over the Boston Celtics. Every starter in the game posted double digits and Domantas Sabonis had another monster game with 16 rebounds and 22 points.

The team welcomed De’Aaron Fox back on the court after missing three games and he had the team high of 26 points. It was a close game for the Kings but they won the third and fourth quarters that pushed them over the top after trailing at the half.

Game recap: The two teams battled it out in the opening quarter and after the first 12 minutes the Kings had a slight edge over the Bulls leading 32-30. Chicago continued to fight and took a 63-61 lead into the locker room. The second half would reveal which team would dictate the flow of the game and walk away with a win.

Sacramento won both the third and fourth quarters. In the third quarter they outscored the Bulls 36-32 taking a 97-95 lead into the fourth quarter. This game was up for grabs and promised to be a close finish.

The fourth quarter would indeed reveal a close finish but Sacramento outscored Chicago by a slim 27-24 margin. With the Kings winning the third quarter, winning the fourth was the deciding factor with Sacramento the victor 124-119. The Kings had won their seventh game in a row and had surpassed the .500 mark in a remarkable season turnaround.

This was an absolute team effort with every starter finishing the game with double figures. De’Aaron Fox who was back in action after missing a few games had the team high with 26 points and nine rebounds.

DeMar DeRozan finished with 21 points and Keegan Murray had another good showing with 14 points and five rebounds. Malik Monk was also completely on board with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Domantas Sabonis continued his tear finishing with 22 points and 16 rebounds. The defensive effort was another solid one and the fall off defensively in the past appears to be just that, in the past. With only eight turnovers this was another all-around solid game for the Kings. They were great at the line shooting 81%.

As expected, the Bulls Zach LaVine had the high for the game with 36 points and 10 rebounds. The defense on both teams was excellent but Sacramento was just a bit better out-rebounding the Bulls by a few. The Bulls had a better showing off the bench with 30 points to the Kings 23 points but Sacramento’s starting lineup put this game away.

This was the Kings season high for wins in a row. It was a triumphant return forDeRozan who got a nice reception from his former team. Kings Head Coach Doug Christie now has a 7-1 win/loss record after dropping the first game in his new role.

It has been an amazing turnaround considering the struggles they were experiencing just a few weeks ago. The Bulls cut the Kings lead to a single point with 2:28 left in the game but clutch man Fox bumped the leading back hitting two foul shots with 1:29 left on the clock. With 22 seconds left in the game the Bulls got called for a five second violation following a timeout and Sabonis hit a couple of free throws to finish the Bulls off.

Game notes: Sunday afternoon the Kings beat the Bulls 124-119 for their seventh win in a row. The good news for the Kings was that Fox was back on the court for this game after missing three games with a glute contusion.

As this winning streak goes on they got all hands on board to extend it. The thing about winning streaks is that they do sooner or later come to an end and it takes tremendous work to keep it intact. The Kings kept an eye on Zach LaVine who always is a threat as well as Nikola Vucevic.

Tuesday night the Kings continue their road trip taking on the Milwaukee Bucks before returning home to Golden 1 Center in Sacramento for a matchup with the Rockets. Tipoff for the Milwaukee game is scheduled for 5:00 PM as Sacramento will be looking for win number eight.