by What we learned as Kings lose to Spurs and fall to sixth in seven games, originally broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area
SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis recorded his 18th back-to-back double-doubles, but it wasn’t enough to snap the Kings out of their recent funk as they lost 127-125 to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at Golden 1 Center.
Sabonis had 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in another stellar performance while spending much of his evening defending San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.
Malik Monk had 19 points in his first start since the final game of the 2021-22 season while still with the Los Angeles Lakers. A finalist for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year last season, Monk grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists.
De’Aaron Fox added 23 points and nine assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 28. Isaac Jones scored 12.
The Kings led most of the night until the Spurs turned things around in the fourth quarter and took a 121-116 lead. Fox and Chris Paul traded 3-pointers before Monk’s 3-pointer pulled the Kings within 124-122 with 11.8 seconds remaining.
Keldon Johnson made one of two free throws two seconds later, but San Antonio grabbed the rebound. Chris Paul fouled out and made both free throws to secure the victory for San Antonio. A 3-point basket from Sabonis at the buzzer scored the final points.
The Kings (9-12) have lost six of seven.
The Kings controlled the first half, leading by 17 before the Spurs put together their best run of the night and took a 79-77 lead into the third quarter. After Fox made a floater and fed Monk during a long alley-oop to put Sacramento back in front, the two teams went back and forth in the final quarter.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Fat first furious and furious
The Kings continued their recent trend of strong starts, scoring a season-high 42 points in the first quarter despite Wembanyama’s looming presence in the key.
Trailing by 12 points from DeRozan, Sacramento came out strong and built a 17-point lead to set the tone. Seven players had at least four points in the first stanza. As a team, the Kings shot 17 of 24 (70.8 percent) in the first quarter, with five of seven missing from behind the arc.
They were crispy too. A team that struggled to take care of the ball all season only turned it over once in the first quarter.
Bone of the great
Sabonis had another solid game in his biannual showdown against the Spurs’ 7-foot-3 tower, Wembanyama. That’s four out of four games since Wemby entered the league as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, although the Spurs big man hasn’t played in any of the four games.
Sabonis, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds against San Antonio on Nov. 11, was content to play the role of distributor from the start and could have had an even better night Sunday if he had been more effective under the hoop . In the first half alone, he pulled down seven offensive rebounds, but repeatedly missed his putback attempts.
For his part, Wembanyama put together a fairly solid stat line: 34 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks. He also made a four-point play in the first half.
DThe return of eMar
The Kings have a different vibe when DeRozan is on the court, and getting him back into the lineup after a two-game absence due to a sore back was huge.
It wasn’t just the score. DeRozan’s ability to read defenses is tremendous and he did a great job facilitating and moving the ball.
Defensively, DeRozan was sharp. He made three steals and eight assists. He also committed an offensive foul after receiving an elbow from Wembanya in the chin in the second quarter.
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