Kings laud Ellis' defense in 2OT win over Heat: 'Young kid is amazing'

DeMar DeRozan led everyone with 30 points, but the six-time All-Star had special praise for teammate Keon Ellis after the Sacramento Kings' double-overtime win Monday over the Miami Heat.

"The young kid is amazing, man," DeRozan said, courtesy of Sactown Sports 1140's Brenden Nunes. "The knack that he has defensively is incredible. ... I kind of look at him and just - he don't even realize how much better he's going to get at the things he's already great at.

"So, it's fun to see it: how incredible he is, the confidence he has when he's shooting threes, and now making plays. We encourage him just to go out there and play. So, it's big. He's a key part, especially in our success these last five games."

Ellis finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting (3-of-7 from three) and eight rebounds in just over 48-and-a-half minutes Monday - tied for second on Sacramento behind center Domantas Sabonis (50:39). However, his most significant contributions in the Kings' fifth straight victory were arguably on defense.

The third-year guard found himself switched onto center Bam Adebayo as Miami prepared to inbound the ball with 0.9 seconds left in the first overtime and the scored tied 112-112. However, Ellis got a hand on the pass - one of 15 deflections Monday - thwarting what could've been a game-winning buzzer-beater.

He also had a critical block, swatting Jaime Jaquez on a post-up to keep the game tied at 117 with two minutes to play.

DeRozan then helped Sacramento close out the game with three jumpers, including a pair of long, step-back twos in the final 71 seconds.

"He's been amazing ... He's doing all this, and then he's still level-headed, talking back to the other team on defense," Sabonis said about Ellis, courtesy of FOX40's Sean Cunningham. "He's big. Without him, we basically can't win these games. When he's locked in like that, it makes life so much easier for everybody."

Ellis is averaging 29.7 minutes in six games since the Kings tabbed Doug Christie to replace former head coach Mike Brown on an interim basis. He credited Christie for giving him "a little bit more rope" to play through his mistakes.

"Late when I had that turnover, those are crucial, but he's just like, 'Don't worry about it, you'll get it back, just go get it on the other end,'" Ellis said, according to Nunes. "So, things like that just kind of eases your mind a little bit. I think those are more so the biggest differences."