Shorthanded Spurs get blown out by Kings for third straight loss

Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Spurs had no answer for Sabonis down low or the the Kings hot three-point shooting.

The short-handed Spurs Spurs came into the second game of their three-game homestand looking for their first win of the week following a two-game skid in Phoenix and last night against the Bulls. They faced a tall task against the Sacramento Kings without Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones, and while the Spurs initially got out to a strong start, they couldn’t maintain it, and the Kings eventually pulled away on the back of a hot three-point shooting night.

The first half of the first quarter was the Spurs’ best stretch of the game. Julian Champagnie hit three of his first four threes and scored the first 11 points of the game for the Spurs. Keldon Johnson also came in hot off the bench with 10 quick points to help get the lead out to 13 points. Overall, the energy and defensive effort was much higher that the last few games, but once Chris Paul subbed out, the offense stagnated, and the Kings went on a 14-1 run to close the first quarter to tie things up at 33 apiece.

That run extended to start the second quarter with the Kings scoring the first four points before another Champagnie three broke the ice for the Spurs. Unfortunately, things went sideways after Collins picked up his third foul and was ejected for talking too much on his way to the bench (and then made sure he got his money’s worth with certain hand gesture). The Kings were in the bonus with 6:32 left in the half, and they got the lead as high as 12. The Spurs recovered a bit to keep things from getting any worse, but they still couldn’t make enough stops and went into halftime down 59-67.

There was still hope as they came out more focused to start the third quarter and got within three at 77-74, but that would be the last serious threat the Spurs posed the rest of the night. The Kings responded and pushed the lead all the way back out to 18 while capitalizing off every little mistake. The Spurs’ bench, which outscored the Kings’ 48-34 on the night, again made a little push to keep the game from getting too out of hand, and they headed into the fourth quarter down 86-100, but it was hard to imagine they had the firepower to come all the way back.

Sure enough, the fourth quarter was more of the same, with the lead hovering between 14 and 20 most of the way, and the Kings having an answer for every positive play the Spurs made. They got whatever they wanted down low, and that in turn opened up the three-point shooting for a team that has struggled massively all season from that range. They ended up hitting 16-34 on the night, with Keegan Murray, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter all hitting three or more, and even the Kings’ third string couldn’t miss as they piled on in garbage time, handing the Spurs their third straight loss, 113-140, and dropping them back to below .500.

Game Notes

With Wembanyama unable to go again after has back remained sore in warm-ups, the Spurs switched things up from the last game and started Collins instead of Jeremy Sochan at center. The move made sense going up against one of the better centers around the rim in Domantas Sabonis. Unfortunately, once Collins was out, the Spurs had no answer for him down low, and he finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili struggled on both ends of the floor, and the lack of an interior game made life harder for the rest of the offense.
Champagnie was a rare bright spot for the Spurs in this game, hitting a career high six threes for 30 points — a performance that put him in rare company with Jaren Jackson and Gary Neal as the only undrafted Spurs to hit 6+ threes and score 25 points in a game. Chris Paul also had a solid night with 11 points, 13 assists and 8 rebounds, and as bad as the Spurs played most of the night, it actually makes sense that he had a positive box score plus/minus (+1). The offense flowed when he was out there, and it didn’t when he wasn’t, simply as that.
Harrison Barnes’ scoring has fallen off a cliff since he won Player of the Week, with three straight 20-point games a couple of weeks ago and a big reason why the Spurs were able to navigate their last stint without Wemby. Since then, he has scored in single-digit in five of their last six games, and the Spurs have lacked another offensive force to help keep up while the defense struggles without its leader. The Spurs have needed everyone to step up in these last two home games against beatable teams, but not enough players have.

Play of the Game

Honestly, no particular play stands out from this game, so I’m going with this oop from Stephon Castle to Jeremy Sochan. We’ve seen Castle building chemistry with Wemby, so it’s good to see him doing the same with another presumed core member of the future Spurs.