The San Antonio Spurs will look to shrug off consecutive losses at home and get back on the winning track when they host the struggling Sacramento Kings on Sunday afternoon.
The Spurs fell twice in three nights to Golden State, most recently a 109-108 setback in NBA Cup play on Friday that went down to the final shot. After leading by 10 points in the fourth quarter and falling behind by one with 6.4 seconds left, De’Aaron Fox missed a contested jumper at the buzzer that bounced twice off the rim before falling away.
Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio with 26 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s loss while Fox had 24 points and 10 assists. Julian Champagnie added 14 points, and Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell hit for 13 and 11, respectively, as the Spurs dropped to 1-1 in the league’s in-season tournament.
Wembanyama said that the familiarity of playing the same team in such quick succession slowed the game down a little, putting added emphasis on each possession. “I wasn’t disruptive enough,” he explained.
“The guys have been competing – they’re doing a lot of good things,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We just have to try to navigate minimize some of the peaks and valleys. If we can, if we can have a more consistent standard of 48 minutes.
“Right now, I think we’re just having too many lows. There’s still a lot of highs, and we’re doing a lot of good things, but we just need to be more consistent”
San Antonio is 0-2 on its current five-game homestand that continues with Sunday afternoon’s game with the Kings.
The Kings head into the Alamo City carrying a five-game losing streak, most recently a 124-110 setback at Minnesota on Friday in an NBA Cup clash. Sacramento 0-2 in the West Group A standings in the league’s in-season tournament, with games at home with Phoenix and Utah still on its schedule.
Domantas Sabonis led the Kings with 34 points while taking 11 rebounds in the setback, with Zach LaVine adding 25 points, Dennis Schroder scoring 14 and Russell Westbrook contributing a triple-double (13 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds).
Westbrook’s assists were enough to allow him to reach the 10,000-assist level in his career as he is one of just eight players in league history to reach that milestone. Westbrook started at point guard for the first time this season after Schroder had been on the court at that position to begin the Kings’ first 12 outings.
“We’re searching and trying to make sure that we put a lineup out there that represents all those things that I talked about,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “So everything is up for discussion. More than anything, it’s just about the energy, the vibe, making sure that we find something as we continue to define our identity.”
The Kings were down by just a point heading to the fourth quarter Friday before being outscored by 13 in the final period. Sacramento has a minus-119 point differential (losing by an average of 23.8 points per contest) during its five-game losing streak.
“These guys care,” Christie said before the game. “I’ve been around this league, around basketball, my whole life. You have ups and downs and all those different things. It’s part of what we do. But they care.”
Sunday’s game is the second of a five-game road trip for Sacramento.
The contest marks the second time Fox will play against his former team of 7 1/2 seasons. He had 16 points and eight assists in a 127-109 loss in Sacramento on March 7. He shot 6 of 17 from the field and missed all six 3-point attempts.