SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings found a way to overcome their 3-point shooting struggles over the first two weeks of the season, but not this time.

Norman Powell had 32 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 107-98 victory over the Kings on Friday night before a sellout crowd of 17,832 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

The Kings went 3 of 26 from 3-point range, continuing a troubling early trend for a Sacramento team that ranks among the worst in the league in long distance shooting.

“It’s tough to win a game when you make three 3-pointers,” Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said. “It just wasn’t our night tonight.”

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox agreed.

“We won the turnover battle,” Fox said. “Free throws were basically the same. Where we truly lost the game was the 3-point line.”

James Harden had 22 points and eight assists for the Clippers (5-4), who have won three in a row after posting back-to-back wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers. Derrick Jones Jr. and Amir Coffey scored 14 points apiece. Ivica Zubac had 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Fox scored 31 points to lead the Kings (5-4), who had won two in a row and five of six. Domantas Sabonis recorded another double-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while Malik Monk came off the bench to score 17 points.

DeRozan was held to 13 points, ending his franchise-record streak of eight consecutive 20-point games to begin his tenure with the Kings. Keegan Murray was held to seven points, going 2 of 10 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point range.

Going into the game, the Clippers were fourth in the NBA in opponent points per game (107.8), fifth in defensive rating (108.8) and 12th in opponent field-goal percentage (.460) despite ranking 22nd in opponent 3-point percentage (.372). Kings coach Mike Brown said drive-and-kick 3s would be a big part of the gameplan despite the fact his team ranked 27th in 3-point shooting (.325).

“It doesn’t matter who we play, we want to let it fly,” Brown said before the game. “We feel like we’re a good 3-point shooting team. Although the numbers might not point that direction right now, we have guys who can knock that shot down. Any time you touch the paint, especially in today’s NBA, everybody converges, so we want to touch the paint, let that thing fly and hopefully knock down shots.”

The Kings followed the script on the opening possession as Sabonis kicked out to Fox for an open 3-pointer from the top of the arc, but Sacramento went just 1 of 6 from long distance in the first period.

Meanwhile, Harden drew two quick fouls on Fox and two more on Murray. He went 7 of 7 from the free-throw line with 12 points over the first 5:34 to help the Clippers build an early 19-11 lead.

Keon Ellis came on to replace Fox and quickly picked up two fouls of his own. The Clippers went up by as many as 10 points and led 34-28 after going 11 of 11 from the foul line in the first quarter.

The Kings eventually cut the deficit to two late in the second quarter, but they trailed 51-45 after going 2 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half. Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, DeRozan, Sabonis, Murray and Monk combined to go 0 of 11.

The Kings got within three on a few occasions early in the second half. The Clippers went up by 11 on a 3-pointer by Jones with 5:04 to play in the third quarter. The Kings trailed 78-73 going into the fourth after Monk came on to give Sacramento a spark off the bench.

The Clippers outscored the Kings 12-4 to start the fourth quarter. They went up 90-77 on a basket by Kevin Porter Jr. and led 96-80 following a dunk by Coffey with 5:33 to play.

That’s when the Kings came alive. They staged a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to four on a midrange jumper from DeRozan, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Powell and Coffey sealed Sacramento’s fate.

The Clippers shot just 44.4% from the field but went 14 of 30 (.467) from 3-point range. The Kings shot 47.4% from the field and 11.4% from beyond the arc.

Brown said the Kings are hesitating too much and passing up open 3-pointers, adding they should have taken at least 10 more long-distance shots.

“We have a lot of guys who are just shot faking and trying to drive, and everybody’s sitting in the paint,” Brown said. “And then we make interior passes at times when there are a lot of bodies there, and that makes it tough. When that ball comes to you, you’ve got to shoot it and you’ve got to shoot it with confidence.”

Other ways to score

Brown expects the Kings’ 3-point shooting to improve, but he is pleased to see his team finding other ways to score.

Going into Friday’s game, the Kings were fifth in the NBA in offensive rating (117.4) and scoring (118.8 ppg), ranking No. 1 in free-throw shooting and No. 5 in field-goal percentage (.484).

“For sure, you definitely like that because come playoff time, the game gets tougher. You’re not just going to be able to shoot 3s. You’re not just going to be able to get to the rim. You’ve got to find other ways to score and we’re going through that process now.”

Up next

The Kings will head out on the road for a quick two-game road trip before coming back to Sacramento to open a four-game homestand.

The Kings will visit the Phoenix Suns on Sunday at Footprint Center and the Spurs on Monday at Frost Bank Center. The Kings are 1-1 on the second night of a back-to-back so far this season.

The Suns, led by Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, are 8-1 after beating the Dallas Mavericks 114-113 on Friday. The Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, are 4-5 going into Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz.

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