San Antonio vs. Sacramento – Final Score: Spurs D can’t stop Kings, 122-102

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

San Antonio comes up short in yet another road loss to a California team.

Well, the San Antonio Spurs lost their fourth straight game of the road trip as the Sacramento Kings put on a show from deep in the second half. It was an ugly end to a game that was rather evenly contested early and that San Antonio led in until the middle of the third quarter. The Spurs must look to their next game against the Denver Nuggets for a chance at their first win of the road trip, after being convincingly blown out by the Kings.

Game-flow:

The first quarter was sluggish all around as both teams struggled to execute, but by the end of the quarter and into the second frame both teams started to put the ball in the basket, with Sacramento getting hot from three to take a lead that they would nurse all the way to the end of the half. The Spurs started to pick it up on both ends, but a number of turnovers and fouls kept them from catching all the way up to the Kings, ending the half down by three points.

Both teams came out looking a lot more focused in the second half, but whistles on virtually all contact ended up turning the third frame into a parade of fouls and open looks and neither team looked like they would be able to get into a clear rhythm as a result of all of the stoppages. A suddenly hot Bryn Forbes had something to say about that with a barrage of threes of his own, but Sacramento answered with a 19-2 run to end the third up by eleven points.

Unfortunately, that was a sign of things to come, as the Kings continued to go off for most of the fourth, going up by as much twenty-two points. San Antonio’s frustration became evident as DeMar DeRozan was tossed from the game on a pair of technicals, and while the Spurs did their best to make it look respectable, the loss was all but assured after that.

San Antonio is now 0-4 on the rodeo road trip, as the wheels appear to be coming off. Rough night for everyone involved, at least as far as the Spurs are concerned.

Observations:

In what was a bit of foreshadowing, SA shot 30% from three in the first half. Dejounte Murray had half of all makes. Meanwhile, the Kings shot 50% from three in the same frame. Not great.
In what has become a trend over the last few games, Sacramento did everything they could to blanket LaMarcus Aldridge, all the way out to the arc. I have the feeling he’d still be knocking them down, but teams just aren’t giving him the chance right now, which is probably smart.
To their credit, the Kings went 19-35 from deep on the night. That’s tough to beat any given evening, but especially when you go 7-24. Shooting percentages were pretty close otherwise, so this was decidedly the killer stat of the evening.
The Spurs coughed up 6 turnovers in the first half. They tightened things up later on, committing only one more for the rest of the game, but you have to wonder if they could have built a decent lead in the first half if not for the giveaways. That might have changed the complexion of the contest.
On the other hand, it’s hard to think that they would have been able to keep up with an flame-throwing Buddy Hield, who went 9-10 on his own, to the tune of 31 points.
In a bright moment, Lonnie Walker IV finally converted one of those rim-cracking slam dunks that he’s been coming up just short on. For one moment he practically silenced every Kings fan in the building. It was that good.
Jakob Poeltl continues to contribute in even the smallest of opportunities. He scored 8 points, pulled down 4 boards, and had a spectacular block in just 12 minutes of court time. I like Trey Lyles, but it’s no coincidence that San Antonio’s has been struggling any time he has more minutes than Jakob.