In what was a promising night for many of the Kings young guns, Sacramento was outdone by their own fourth quarter execution, the Spurs surgical offense, and a highlight performance by the Spurs’ 6’10 Steph Curry Davis Bertans. San Antonio ended the game on a 17-5 run, which came on a flurry of Bertans threes and Kings turnovers.
It was a disappointing end to a solid first 40 minutes of basketball, where De’Aaron Fox (11 points, 10 assists, 5-9 FG, and three of those “yeah he’s good” speedy highlights), Bogdan Bogdanovic (16 points, 5 assists, and 6-10 shooting), and Willie Cauley-Stein (22 points and 9 boards on 8-12 FG) all had strong performances. Aside from Garret Temple (33 minutes, 16 points), those three young bloods led the team in minutes. Skal Labissiere also got some solid run, playing 22 minutes and adding 6 points, 8 boards, and some really fluid shots on the move.
The Kings led by as much as 14, including a 59-46 lead just a minute into the second half, but the San Antonio Popoviches stayed calm and ran them off the court with the late game spurt. Bertans led the Spurs with a career high 28 points with six threes, including three in the fourth quarter. LaMarcus Aldridge added 31 and 12, while Patty Mills had 14 points and 5 assists.
Sacramento heads down to the dumpster fire outside of the Staples Center, where they’ll face the Lakers on Tuesday.
For the rival perspective, visit poundingtherock.com.
