All objective analysis had the Sacramento Kings losing this game tonight. They had just played last night against Phoenix, and it was the San Antonio Spurs coming into town with a day of rest after a 29 point drubbing of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. And indeed they did lose, putting a damper on an otherwise high-flying night opening up the Golden 1 Center to the world. But if the final score is the only thing you take away from this game, you are seriously selling this Kings team short. The Spurs are a championship contender fresh off a 67 win season, and the Kings made them earn the W tonight.

For the Kings, DeMarcus Cousins was unstoppable. As a guy who is usually a victim of fatigue on the second night of a back-to-back, Cousins just kept coming, attacking the paint, getting to the free throw line, and peppering in jumpers. Cousins ended with 37 points and 16 rebounds, on stellar efficiency when you account for his 14/16 record at the free throw strike and 3/5 from the three point line (63.7 TS%). Rudy Gay was a terrific wingman for a half, scoring 12 of his 17 points, but slowed down considerably in the second half.

On the other end, the Spurs were led by a galactic destroyer known as Kawhi Leonard. Already the premiere defensive player in the NBA, Leonard is inconceivably making another leap in his offensive prowess. He shut the door on the Kings in the fourth quarter with timely fadeaways, assists, and defensive plays. In one memorable sequence, Kawhi swallowed Ben McLemore’s soul on back-to-back possessions when the poor kid tried to run a play facing up on Leonard, only to have Kawhi’s steely tentacles rip the ball right out of his hands. Leonard scored 31 points on 62.3 TS% and essentially neutralized Cousins’ big night. He’s an early favorite for the league MVP award.

The Kings actually led for much of the game, riding Cousins and Gay’s strong offensive production while keeping the Spurs at bay with their newfound defensive intensity. They led by as many as 11 in the first half, shooting over 50% from the field. The game truly turned in the third quarter, where the Spurs cracked the Kings by ratcheting up their own defensive pressure to another level. One adjustment in particular was the Spurs pressuring Ty Lawson and Garrett Temple fullcourt for most of the second half, taking a page from what the Suns did last night in their late third quarter run, and forcing the Kings to play on a shorter shot clock. In between the Spurs tightening the screws and fatigue from playing at such a high intensity level for two straight nights setting in, the Spurs retook the lead and started building a cushion of their own. The Kings led 66-57 with 7:20 left in the third quarter, sporting a 110.8 offensive rating and a 103.9 defensive rating. The Spurs crushed the Kings the rest of the way, with the Kings’ offensive rating falling to 75.3 and their defensive rating rising to 121.5.

But even down the stretch, the Kings didn’t just die. The fourth quarter featured some spirited runs powered by Cousins, tying the game at 83 with 7 minute to go. Although the offense was completely shut down, the Kings fought tooth and nail to the final buzzer, keeping the Spurs in sight until Leonard shut the door with back-to-back jumpers giving the Spurs a nine point lead with two minutes remaining.

Basically, if this is the quality of play we will get this season, sign me up. Dave Joerger’s already showing how good of a defensive coach he is, with the team making enormous strides on that end faster than even the most optimistic onlooker could have predicted. They still have a lot of work to do, particularly in nailing down some of the tricky details on defense and flow on offense. But that just means there is still untapped potential in this team. Onto the observations:

The Kings next play against the Timberwolves on Saturday. For the opponent’s perspective, visit Pounding the Rock.