Kings' balanced attack too much for short-handed Spurs

Field Level Media|published: Fri 6th December, 22:47 2024

Dec 6, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Charles Bassey (28) and guard Stephon Castle (5) battle for the rebound along with Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points and Domantas Sabonis added 22 points and 16 rebounds as the visiting Sacramento Kings rolled to a 140-113 win over the slumping, short-handed San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

The Kings led by 10 points at halftime and used a 19-4 run over the middle of the third to go up by 18 on the way to a 14-point margin heading to the final quarter. Sacramento never allowed the Spurs to get closer than 14 points in the fourth period and captured its second win in three games.

Both teams were playing the second contest of a back-to-back set.

Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox also scored 22 points each for Sacramento, while Keegan Murray had 17 and Kevin Huerter hit for 16 off the bench.

Julian Champagnie scored a career-high 30 points to lead San Antonio, which dropped a season-worst third straight game. Stephon Castle had 15 points, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan tallied 14 apiece, and Chris Paul racked up 11 points and 13 assists in the loss.

The Spurs were without star center Victor Wembanyama, who missed his second straight game with a bruised back, and guard Devin Vassell, sidelined due to right foot injury management. San Antonio also lost Zach Collins to an ejection three minutes into the second quarter.

San Antonio came out firing, building a 13-point lead when Paul canned a pull-up jumper with 2:37 left in the first quarter. The Kings responded, finishing the period with a 14-1 run to pull even at 33 after 12 minutes of play.

Sacramento kept the momentum into the second quarter, leading by a dozen when Huerter hit a running layup with 5:51 to play in the period. The Spurs sliced the deficit to 59-53 on Sandro Mamukelashvili's 3-pointer with 3:24 left, but that's as close as they would get. The Kings led 69-59 at the break.

Champagnie led all scorers with 19 points before halftime. DeRozan paced Sacramento with 16 points in the first half.

The Spurs pulled within three points when Castle poured in a 3-pointer with 8:29 to play in the third quarter. But that charge only focused Sacramento, which led 93-76 with 4:14 left in the period after a Sabonis layup.

--Field Level Media

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