Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis scored a career-high 33 points as he made 9-of-15 3-point shots in a 109-108 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

Ellis tied the record for the most 3-point baskets by an Alabama alumnus in an NBA game.

“Heck of a job by Keon,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “We’ve been on him about ‘Hey, if you’re open, let that thing go,’ and tonight, he let it go. He’s a good shooter. He shot 40-something percent from the 3 when he was in the G League. I even think last year he was around 40, so we know he can shoot the basketball, and it was great to see him step into it and let it fly tonight.”

Former Andalusia High School star Robert Horry established the Alabama NBA record for 3-pointers in a game when he made nine in the Houston Rockets’ 86-80 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 22, 1996.

Latrell Sprewell matched that mark twice with nine 3-pointers in the New York Knicks’ 129-127 double-overtime victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 26, 2002, and the Knicks’ 105-92 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4, 2003.

The only other player from an Alabama high school or college who has made nine 3-point baskets in an NBA game is Chuck Person. The former Brantley High School and Auburn standout made nine in the San Antonio Spurs’ 124-115 victory over the Vancouver Grizzlies on Dec. 30, 1997.

Ellis entered Monday’s game with his top point output this season at 12, and he was 24-of-53 on 3-point shots in 13 games in the 2024-25 campaign.

Ellis said his lack of 3-point shots before Monday’s game was “probably a little bit of always trying to make the right, right play, like sometimes the right play is just for you to step in and shoot it even if there is a guy open on the one-more. Like I said, especially with the start we had, just tried to come out there and every opportunity I had tried to make the aggressive play instead of always trying to make the one-more or whatever it is. But still trying to play the right way, though.”

On Monday night, Ellis took the floor for the first time with 6:14 left in the first quarter and Sacramento trailing 16-6. The Kings led 66-64 at halftime as Ellis made 6-of-8 3-point shots in the first half.

Ellis went 0-of-3 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Kings managed only 15 points in the period. Ellis scored Sacramento’s final points with two free throws with 49 seconds to play. Atlanta missed two shots on its final possession, but the Hawks’ Dyson Daniels blocked a shot by De’Aaron Fox with two seconds remaining to preserve Atlanta’s victory.

Ellis’ previous scoring high was 26 points, which he totaled by hitting 8-of-15 3-point shots in a 112-105 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 9, 2024.

After playing on two NCAA tournament teams at Alabama, including a Sweet 16 squad in 2021, Ellis entered the NBA as an undrafted rookie.

In his first NBA season in 2022-23, Ellis played in 16 games with the Kings and 36 with Sacramento’s NBA G League affiliate in Stockton, California.

In his second season in 2023-24, Ellis played in 57 games with the Kings without making a trip to Stockton even though he started the season on a two-way contract, which allowed Sacramento to shuttle him between the G League and the NBA.

Ellis’ contributions caused the Kings to convert his two-way contract to a 15-man-roster contract in February. Ellis’ new contract pays him $2.121 million in the 2024-25 season and contains a club option for the 2025-26 campaign that would pay him $2.302 million.

In the 2023-24 season, Ellis averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

On March 18, Sacramento guard Kevin Huerter sustained a torn labrum, and Ellis entered the starting lineup. He started the final 15 regular-season games and two games in the play-in tournament. When guard Malik Monk suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament on March 29, Ellis’ role at the end of games increased, too.

After he entered the starting lineup, Ellis averaged 9.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals and shot 44.6 percent from 3-point range in the final 15 games of the regular-season.

This season, Ellis has one start among his 14 appearances. He has averaged 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while making 48.5 percent of his 3-point shots.

With an 8-7 record this season, the Kings visit the Clippers at 9:30 p.m. CST Friday for their next game.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.