Spurs hand woeful Kings their 16th straight loss
Victor Wembanyama racked up 28 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots to lead a balanced San Antonio attack in a 139-122 win over the hapless Sacramento Kings on Saturday in Austin, Texas, the Spurs' home away from home.
The Spurs led by eight points at halftime and 11 after three quarters before putting away Sacramento in the fourth quarter. San Antonio expanded its advantage to 126-103 on Wembanyama's tip-in layup with 7:05 remaining and cruised to the finish line, capturing their season-best eighth straight game.
Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson and De'Aaron Fox added 18 points each for the Spurs, with Harrison Barnes hitting for 14 and Dylan Harper scoring 12 points.
Keegan Murray and DeMar DeRozan tallied 20 points apiece for the Kings, who fell for the 16th game in a row and added to the franchise record for consecutive losses. Malik Monk had 19 points, Maxime Raynaud finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Precious Achiuwa hit for 14 points for Sacramento.
The Spurs roared out of the gate, scoring the game's first 11 points and building a 25-10 lead after Julian Champagnie's 3-pointer at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter. Sacramento swung back, pulling to within 29-23 after Murray hit 2 of 3 free throws as part of his 11 points in the period. San Antonio led 35-31 after 12 minutes of play.
The Kings surged to the front at 40-37 by producing a 9-2 run to open the second quarter. From there the game went back and forth with five lead changes, the final in the midst of a Spurs 11-0 run capped by Johnson's two free throws with 1:44 left before halftime that turned a three-point deficit into a 65-59 San Antonio lead. The Spurs carried a 73-65 lead into the break.
Murray and DeRozan led the Kings with 14 points in the first half while Sacramento also got 12 points from Monk and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Raynaud.
Castle paced the Spurs with 13 points and Wembanyama added 11 as all 10 players who took the court for San Antonio in the half scored at least three points.
The Kings drew to within 98-94 on Murray's jumper with 1:58 to play in the third quarter before free throws by Johnson and 3-pointers from Wembanyama and Barnes stoked the San Antonio lead to 105-94 heading into the final period.