SACRAMENTO — The San Antonio Spurs opened a two-game road trip with a 127-125 come-from-behind victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night at the Golden 1 Center.
The win sees San Antonio bounce back from a blowout loss at home to the LA Lakers on Wednesday and earn their 11th win of the season.
In case you missed it, here are three points on the Spurs’ win over the Sacramento Kings:
It’s not how you start — it’s how you finish
The trend for the San Antonio Spurs this season has been finishing strong and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. The Spurs started slow, falling behind by 17 points in the first quarter. However, San Antonio would outscore Sacramento by seven points in the second to make it a game going into halftime.
“I didn’t feel much physicality or resistance on defense – they are obviously a talented team, but we could have done a better job making them work for some stuff,” Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson said. “We picked it up in the second and fourth quarters, and it was a big difference.”
Despite the Kings making a run to start the second half, the young San Antonio squad held their own and used their defense and smart basketball IQ to hold off the Kings for the win.
The Area 51 connection
Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama had a solid night on both ends of the court, posting his first triple-double of the season and third of his career. He had 34 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, and 3 blocks, an out of this world performance that included the game-sealing offensive rebound over Kings center Domantas Sabonis.
While rookie Stephon Castle had his worse game as a starter, scoring just eight points on 25 percent shooting, he and Wemby found each other multiple times for buckets throughout the night — what fans are calling the “Area 51” connection.
“I think there’s a growth that happens, a maturation naturally,” Johnson said of the Spurs’ growth.
If Wemby and Castle can continue to grow together and use that connection throughout the season, San Antonio may just sneak into the Play-in or maybe even the NBA Playoffs.
Going For Three
The Spurs got a huge boost from Devin Vassell off the bench, who scored 21 points — including five three-pointers — and that was only the beginning of San Antonio’s night from beyond the arc.
The Spurs made a season high 23 three-pointers, shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Wemby (5), Julian Champagnie (4), Chris Paul (3), Keldon Johnson (3), all joined Vassell in making three or more triples in the game.
“We shot it well,” Johnson said of the Spurs’ three-point shooting.
Up next
The Spurs are now 11-9 on the season and will return to the court on Tuesday when they travel to Phoenix to face the Suns at 8 p.m. in the NBA Cup tournament, where they will have the chance to advance with a win.
