Darius Acuff Jr. Ties the NBA Rookie Record With 9 Threes and Is the First Since Shaq With 150 Points in His First 6 Games

Photo: Official NBA headshot, credit NBA.

Darius Acuff Jr. made 9 of 14 threes and scored a career-high 38 points for the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night in Memphis, tying the NBA single-game rookie record for threes, and the Kings still lost 136-105 to fall to 0-6. With 158 points through six games, the 19-year-old is the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992-93 to score 150 in his first six NBA games, per NBA.com/Stats, and he is averaging 36.5 minutes, per CBS Sports.

The record put him next to four names, per the league's stats account: Dalton Knecht (Nov. 19, 2024), Keyonte George (Feb. 15, 2024), Yogi Ferrell (Feb. 3, 2017) and Rodrigue Beaubois (March 27, 2010). None of them did it at 19. At 19 years and 349 days, Acuff is the youngest player in NBA history to make nine threes in a game. The previous youngest was Jaren Jackson Jr., at 20 years and 89 days.

How the 38 came together

The start was quiet. Acuff had 2 points after the first quarter, per CBS Sports, then scored 19 in the second. He went to halftime with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and five threes, and the NBA says he is the first Kings rookie with 20 points and five threes in a single half since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98.

Memphis led 66-55 at the break and pulled away in the third, winning the quarter 42-25. Acuff kept firing anyway. He had 31 points on 8-of-13 from three going into the fourth, per James Ham, with Sacramento down 108-80. His eighth three tied Keegan Murray's franchise rookie record of eight, set at Houston on Feb. 6, 2023, per the Kings. The ninth broke it.

He finished 12 of 25 from the field, 9 of 14 from three and 5 of 5 at the line, with five rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes, per the ESPN box score. He was minus-18.

Nine of 11

The Kings made 11 threes as a team. Acuff made nine of them. The rest of the roster went 2 of 24, by our count from the ESPN box: De'Andre Hunter 2 of 8, Nique Clifford 0 of 3, Zach LaVine 0 of 3, and a 0-for-5 night from Emanuel Sharp off the bench.

Acuff scored 38 of Sacramento's 105 points, 36% of the team's total. Memphis made 19 threes on 38 attempts, including GG Jackson's 5 of 5, and scored 136 without two guards. Cam Spencer started at point guard with Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. out with back issues, per the AP, and handed out 13 assists. Memphis is 6-0, matching the best start in franchise history, set in 2014-15, per the AP, and rookie Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his career-high 27 in the third quarter, per the NBA.

The six-game line, with the shooting split out

Here is Acuff's season so far, from his game log on RealGM.

| Date | Opponent | Result | Pts | FG | 3PT | Ast | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Oct. 21 | at LAC | L 121-96 | 12 | 5-24 | 0-7 | 3 | | Oct. 23 | vs POR | L 128-120 | 33 | 10-26 | 2-11 | 4 | | Oct. 25 | vs MEM | L 123-112 | 22 | 9-23 | 2-9 | 7 | | Oct. 27 | at SAS | L 130-103 | 19 | 8-20 | 3-7 | 5 | | Oct. 29 | at NOP | L 132-120 | 34 | 13-26 | 3-11 | 14 | | Oct. 31 | at MEM | L 136-105 | 38 | 12-25 | 9-14 | 5 |

The totals: 158 points, 57 of 144 from the field (39.6%), 19 of 59 from three (32.2%), 25 of 29 at the line (86.2%) and 38 assists, 6.3 a game. He leads the Kings at 26.3 points per game, per James Ham, ahead of LaVine and Domantas Sabonis.

Now take Saturday out. Through the first five games he was 10 of 45 from three, 22.2%, by our count. One night took his season mark from 22.2% to 32.2%. The opener in Los Angeles was 0 for 7.

He has three games of 30 or more in six, including 34 points and 14 assists at New Orleans on Thursday, and back-to-back 30-point games at 19 years and 349 days, the youngest in Kings franchise history, passing Oscar Robertson at 21 years and 357 days, per the NBA. Sacramento reporter Sean Cunningham counts him as the ninth player in league history with 30 in consecutive games before turning 20.

The free throw line and the minutes

Acuff is 25 of 29 at the line, 86.2%, across all six games, good nights and bad ones. Sacramento took him seventh overall after an All-America season at Arkansas, where he was SEC Player of the Year and won the Bob Cousy Award as the country's top point guard, per Yahoo Sports.

Acuff is averaging 36.5 minutes, per CBS Sports, and the offense runs through him even with LaVine and Sabonis on the roster. Sacramento went 22-60 last season and has lost its first six games this season by an average of 19 points, by our count.

Next up is Monday against Dallas, per NBC Sports, with his three-point mark at 32.2%.

Sources:

• ESPN box score, Kings at Grizzlies, Oct. 31, 2026
• AP recap via ESPN, Grizzlies 136, Kings 105
• NBA.com/Stats on X, rookie record and youngest to make 9 threes
• NBA.com/Stats on X, 158 points through six games, first since Shaquille O'Neal
• NBA on X, youngest Kings player with back-to-back 30-point games
• NBA on X, 21-point first half and Boozer's third quarter
• NBA on X, Saturday's final scores
• James Ham on X, Kings franchise rookie three-point record
• James Ham on X, 31 points entering the fourth
• James Ham on X, Kings scoring leader at 26.3
• Sean Cunningham on X, ninth player with consecutive 30-point games before turning 20
• StatMuse, most threes by a rookie in a game
• RealGM, Darius Acuff Jr. game log
• CBS Sports, Acuff's 38-point night and season averages
• Yahoo Sports, Acuff becomes the first teenager to make 9 threes in a game
• NBC Sports, Acuff career-high 38 and next game