Welp, the win streak was fun while it lasted.
The Kings, missing many rotation players due to injury, hung tough with the San Antonio Spurs for most of the game but weren’t able to get over the hump down the stretch. In typical Spurs fashion, no one player killed the Kings, with 6 Spurs in double digits and two more with 8 and 9 points. Bryn Forbes led the way for San Antonio off the bench with 23 points on 9-15 shooting.
The Kings were led by De’Aaron Fox’s career-high 26 points. Following his emphatic game-winner against Miami, Fox showcased a different part of his game tonight in nailing the long ball. Fox was 6 for 6 from downtown in this one, a very promising sign for his future as a shooter, especially as he was knocking them down from all over and with no hesitation. I would have liked to see more assists than just 3, but hey, at least he had no turnovers.
The Kings as whole shot very well from three, making 18 of their 34 attempts. It’s rare to see the Kings outshoot another team from distance, but that happened against the Spurs, who made just 11-25. Of course, they probably didn’t want to bother shooting threes when they were able to get to the rim whenever they wanted. The Spurs shot 50% overall and outscored the Kings by a whopping 50 to 20 in the paint.
Some of Sacramento’s regulars struggled in this one. Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with just 3 points on 1-7 shooting and Buddy Hield didn’t score a single basket in 5 tries. Vince Carter and George Hill scored 21 and 19 off the bench respectively, including 8-13 combined from three. Rookie Justin Jackson got the start with all the injuries to Kings personnel, and he responded with a solid offensive outing, scoring 14 points on 6-10 shots to go with 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Kings had a slight scare in the 1st quarter when Head Coach Dave Joerger fell to one knee, apparently experiencing some light headedness. He went to the locker room and did not return. Assistant Elston Turner coached the rest of the game for the Kings. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that anything serious is going on with Coach Joerger and it was only a momentary lapse in which precautionary measures were taken.
The Kings now will end their road trip on Tuesday against New Orleans.
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