With De'Aaron Fox no longer on the Kings, it only was natural that DeMar DeRozan would take over the reins as the player Sacramento counts on in the clutch. And that's exactly what happened in the Kings' thrilling 129-128 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at American Airlines Center.
DeRozan scored a season-high 42 points, including an incredible game-winning floater in the waning seconds of overtime after it appeared Mavericks wing Klay Thompson had secured victory for Dallas with a go-ahead 3-pointer on the previous possession.
DEMAR FOR THE WIN 🙌
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) February 11, 2025
pic.twitter.com/2AwEoXmHtF
When the lights were brightest, DeRozan delivered, scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, with the Kings star explaining how an "aggressive" mindset sparked a dominant performance down the stretch.
"I was just trying to be aggressive," DeRozan said on "Kings Postgame Live." "My whole mindset coming into the game was being aggressive. These games definitely are important going into the break and I didn't want another game to slip away from us, so especially in the fourth quarter, I wanted to be aggressive."
DeRozan detailed the plan of attack for his clutch game-winning shot, revealing the trust his teammates bestowed upon him to deliver with the game on the line.
"I was just being patient. I knew they were coming," DeRozan said. "My team told me to go win the game. I knew I was going to get a look someway, somehow. I got the step-through, got the floater, I'm glad it went in. Especially when I almost tricked the game off turning the ball over on the inbound."
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DeRozan was highly efficient from the floor, draining 15 of his 22 field-goal attempts while going a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
All five of Sacramento's starters finished in double figures as the Kings (27-26) once again climbed above .500 as they seek to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament by securing a top-six Western Conference playoff seed.
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While there certainly will continue to be an adjustment period as Sacramento's trade-deadline additions get acclimated to their new roles on a new team, having a tried-and-true player like DeRozan to lean on in crunch time is the ultimate ace up the Kings' sleeve.
And on Monday, DeRozan showed why it was worth going all in for his services in the 2024 offseason.
