Kings' De'Aaron Fox makes unwanted history with 60-point game

Overall, Fox became the 13th player to end up on the losing end with a 60-point performance. Only Wilt Chamberlain (11), Devin Booker (two) and Michael Jordan (two) have suffered multiple losses despite scoring 60 in a game. 

The Kings' previous franchise record was held by Jack Twyman, who scored 59 points for the Cincinnati Royals on Jan. 15, 1960. In fact, before Friday's game, the Kings/Royals were among the only two franchises in history — the Hawks being the other — without a 60-point game. The Hawks now stand alone on that mountain, with three players — Bob Pettit, Dominique Wilkins and Lou Hudson — scoring 57. Trae Young fell short of the milestone when he scored 56 in January 2022.

Despite Sacramento's loss on Friday, Fox has every reason to be proud of his accomplishment. The team was without two key players, DeMar DeRozan (back) and Malik Monk (ankle), and forced overtime against the blossoming Timberwolves.

After the game, Fox revealed that his teammates urged him to go for the franchise record. The athletic guard had only 21 points at the half when the Kings were down eight. That deficit ballooned to 20 in the third until Fox exploded to spur a 14-0 run to script a turnaround. 

"I wanted this game to end in the fourth quarter, so I don't even want to have the opportunity to [get 60 points], but my teammates wanted me to keep going, obviously," Fox said via ESPN.

The 7-6 Kings will next host the Jazz on Saturday, the second night of a back-to-back. While it's still early in the season, the Kings are in a tight battle with several teams for the 7-10 play-in seeds in the conference.