Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings – Game #9
For the second time this young regular season, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Sacramento Kings. This time, the game took place in California and the final score was 124-109. The Spurs scored 38 points in the first quarter and the contest was never truly in doubt from then on out. The win improved San Antonio to 7-2.
Stats: Spurs at Kings
Spurs at Kings – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
Wembanyama had a great first half. In less than 14 minutes, the superstar Frenchman posted 20 points and eight rebounds on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from three-point land. Shortly before halftime, Wembanyama turned his ankle. He played in the second half but he wasn’t nearly as effective. Then again, he still finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds while hitting 4-of-6 from deep. Not bad, not bad. Let’s hope Wembanyama’s ankle is healthy enough to allow him to play in Saturday’s back-to-back affair.
Grade: B
Dylan Harper
Harper posted an efficient 19 points in 28 minutes. Most notably, he was 8-for-9 from the free throw line. I liked his defense and he pushed the tempo well. Harper didn’t handle a whole lot of playmaking duties but he’s truly becoming a reliable scorer who routinely gives the opponent headaches.
Grade: B+
Stephon Castle
I thought this was a great step in the right direction for Castle. He took smart shots, shot five free throws and posted a wonderful 7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. When he’s patient, uses his strength, takes advantage of his athleticism and lets his natural passing ability shine — well, Castle is a beast, that’s all there is to it. His defensive intensity is a given and so is his will to win.
Grade: A-
Devin Vassell
After missing all his shots against the Mavericks, Vassell redeemed himself in Sacramento. He hit his first five three-pointers to finish with an efficient 19 points. I loved his aggression and self-assuredness on offense. When Vassell gets it going, it seems like everything is just so much easier for his teammates.
Grade: A-
De’Aaron Fox
In this return to Sacramento, Fox didn’t have a game to remember. He found himself in foul trouble and he was the only starter in single-digits. His passing was pretty good and I’ll give him credit for getting to the line for six shots — but this was clearly a below average outing for the veteran point guard.
Grade: C
Keldon Johnson
KJ had an odd evening. He was only 1-for-3 from both the field and the free throw line. He was also the only bench player with multiple turnovers. But Johnson’s passing was legitimately really good. The six assists he registered weren’t by accident. Overall, I thought his effort was there even though it didn’t translate as obviously as it usually does for him.
Grade: B
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie had eight points, highlighted by his 2-for-4 showing from three-point territory. His most useful attribute on the night was undoubtedly his rebounding. Champagnie grabbed multiple contested rebounds on the defensive end that helped keep the Kings subdued. I thought there were a few more shots out there he could have taken but, all in all, he played decently well.
Grade: B
Harrison Barnes
Barnes is definitely doing enough right now to retain a spot in the rotation. (These minutes will evaporate when Tobias Harris returns and Carter Bryant finds his way out of the doghouse, right? Right?) He led the bench with 13 points. Barnes hit a couple threes and actually had some rare success going toward the basket. It’s clear that Barnes has lost a step or two but he’s making the most of his current opportunity.
Grade: A-
Luke Kornet
The Kornet minutes are a very difficult watch right now. He’s just a shell of the backup center who looked like one of the best in the league during the regular season last year. His rim protection is bad, his help defense is poor and he can’t do much offensively. I don’t know how much longer Coach Mitch can keep trotting Kornet out there, if I’m to be blunt.
Grade: D
Jordan McLaughlin
McLaughlin had some garbage time minutes and his most notable play was when he tried to dunk in traffic. It didn’t work but it was surprising.
Grade: Inc.
Carter Bryant
Bryant got to experience game action once again — but didn’t move the needle late in the blowout.
Grade: Inc.
Tarris Reed Jr.
Reed had a couple bad defensive plays in his short time on the court. It was garbage time but it’d be nice to see him try to take some of Kornet’s minutes.
Grade: Inc.
David Jones Garcia
Jones Garcia is on this team to score points in garbage time. He didn’t do that tonight.
Grade: Inc.
Mitch Johnson
Eh, Coach Mitch was mostly fine. Everyone played less than 29 minutes, which is helpful going into a back-to-back. The gameplan was to attack Acuff defensively and it was pretty impressive how dialed in the whole team was to doing just that.
Grade: B
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