Sacramento Kings Fall To Spurs In A Nail Biter

In a game where it looked like the Sacramento Kings would take control early, a big third quarter from the San Antonio Spurs kept this one close to the end.

The Kings took a quick 15-9 lead in the first period, but a mini-run for San Antonio cut the lead to 25-21 at the end of the quarter.

Sloppy basketball by the Spurs gave the Kings plenty of opportunities, which they took advantage of as six first-half turnovers by San Antonio and a near double-double for Willie Cauley-Stein (14 points/8 rebounds) gave the Kings a 56-46 lead going into the half. De’Aaron Fox also had an electric first half with 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.

A 17-10 run by the Spurs to open the quarter cut the Kings’ lead to just three points late in the third. Another 10-6 run gave the Spurs their first lead 73-72. Luckily for the Kings, however, they were able to take the lead back quickly with a 4-0 run to end the third.

Things still appeared to be in hand for Sacramento late in the fourth, but turnovers came back to bite them in the end. Thirteen second-half turnovers were too much for Sacramento to overcome, as they fell 107-100. All this, despite a balanced offensive attack with five players in double figures in points.

Games’ Takeaways

• George Hill (personal) missed his second straight game and Frank Mason III (heel) missed his third straight. Both figure to return to the lineup sooner rather than later.
• Per the Kings’ Twitter Account, Spurs’ coach, Gregg Popovich, had some very high praise for Kings’ rookie, Bogdan Bogdanovic, calling him “a fantastic basketball player” among other things. Bogdanovic responded to his praise by dropping 16 points, 5 rebounds, and dishing out 4 assists.
• Willie Cauley-Stein briefly left the game in the first quarter due to a hand injury after deflecting a pass, but returned late in the second quarter and appeared to be fine.
• De’Aaron Fox had one of his best games of the season as he did a little bit of everything on the court. He ended with a points and assists double-double (11 points/10 assists) and 4 rebounds to boot. Unfortunately for Sacramento, he also had a costly turnover at the end of the game that sealed a loss for his team.
• Willie Cauley-Stein also had a game for himself pouring in 22 points and 9 rebounds while shooting 8-12 from the floor.