Have you heard the story about the fox and the ocean?
You might have now. Shortly after De’Aaron Fox knocked down the game-winning buzzer-beater 3-pointer in the Kings’ intense 126-123 overtime win over the Orlando Magic on Saturday at Amway Center, the 24-year-old talked about his mindset leading up to that moment.
“I mean, you ask any basketball player at any level. When the ball’s going in and you have a rhythm, the basket starts looking like the ocean,” Fox said on "Kings Postgame Live" after the win. “I shot that ball and it felt good the entire way. I tried to get as straight in line with the basket as I possibly could, so then there’s no variant, no left-right, and you just got to get it there.”
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SIGN UP HERE The entire final sequence was absolutely jaw-dropping.
After Malik Monk made both of his free throws to extend Sacramento’s lead to four with 14.1 seconds remaining, the Kings needed to avoid just one thing to wrap up the win: No fouling.
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But Fox was whistled for a personal foul which resulted in Magic guard Jalen Suggs getting two free shots. He made both.
Trey Lyles then inbounded the ball for Sacramento and tossed it to Monk, who got trapped in the corner and then threw a bad pass that was stolen by Orlando’s Chuma Okeke and thrown down for an easy two points.
A four-point advantage turned into a tie game in less than 12 seconds.
The Kings had no timeouts left with six seconds remaining and were on the verge of going to double overtime.
But not on Fox’s watch.
“Harrison [Barnes] had it, it was six seconds and I went to go get it,” Fox said. “That team, they’re long, I think they’re pretty good defensively. They were loaded up. If I miss, we go to another overtime. But it felt good leaving my hands and the shot went in and we get out of here with a win.”
After playing just nine minutes against the Charlotte Hornets last week and then missing Sacramento's intense 110-107 loss against the Miami Heat on Wednesday with a bone bruise, Fox's bounce back game didn't disappoint.
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The star point guard dropped 37 points on 58 percent shooting from the field, picked up five boards and dished out three assists in Saturday's win.
Kings coach Mike Brown applauded Fox's leadership in the final seconds.
"Heck of a shot by Fox," Brown told reporters in Orlando. "More importantly, his clock awareness knowing we didn't have a timeout ... He went to Harrison and he said ‘Give me the ball, give me the ball,’ [because] Harrison was kind of holding it and I was like ‘Go! Go!’ because we didn’t have any timeouts.
"And he does what he does. His superpower is his speed and he got the ball up the floor and he’s been working diligently on his shot. He’s extremely confident. He pulled up and hit a big shot for us to win the game."
The Kings won their third game of the season and will close their four-game road trip against the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Monday at Chase Center in San Francisco.