Sacramento @ San Antonio preview
Frost Bank Center
Last Meeting ( Apr 2, 2023 ) San Antonio 142, Sacramento 134
The surging Sacramento Kings look to extend their four-game winning streak and continue their recent success on the road against San Antonio when they visit the Spurs on Friday in an NBA in-season tournament game.
Sacramento is 1-0 in the West Group C standings of the in-season tournament and the Spurs are 0-2.
The Kings opened a six-game road trip with a 125-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Domantas Sabonis led Sacramento with a season-high 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, while De'Aaron Fox and Kevin Huerter scored 28 apiece, the latter matching his season high by making six 3-pointers.
Huerter said afterward that the win set the table for success for the road trip.
"It's great to get off to a good start," Huerter said. "If we can take care of business, we'll put ourselves in a good place. We just have to keep going. It's super early in the season, but it feels like we're catching a rhythm a little bit. I think we're connected to what we want to do defensively. We have really good team defense right now."
Sacramento never trailed, leading by as many as 20 points in the first quarter and by 72-59 at halftime. Los Angeles pulled within single digits late in the fourth quarter before the Kings put away the win.
"For us to come in here and get this one to start this road trip off the right way, it was a really good win for us," Kings coach Mike Brown said.
Fox has scored 28 points in consecutive outings after his return from missing five games with an ankle injury.
San Antonio has dropped six straight, including a 123-87 loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Julian Champagnie and Zach Collins scored 13 points apiece to lead the Spurs, while Devin Vassell had 12. San Antonio played without starting forward Keldon Johnson (right knee soreness) and backup point guard Tre Jones, who missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury.
Rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama had a season-low eight points for the Spurs on 4-of-15 shooting, but he finished with a game-high 14 rebounds. San Antonio committed 25 turnovers that led to 23 OKC points.
"We got a long-term vision," Wembanyama said. "We're not close but we're on the right path. It's going to be a long-term project. We are experimenting with some stuff. We got a lot to adjust to."
San Antonio was up three before allowing the Thunder to score the final 13 points of the first half. The Spurs had no response after the break as they were outscored by 15 in the third quarter.
"I realize it's a young team but two things have to happen," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the loss. "At some point, you have to get tired of getting your (expletive) kicked and second, you have to understand it's a 48-minute game. We played 22 good minutes in the first half. The last two minutes of the first half we turned it over three times and executed nothing."
--Field Level Media