Spurs lose an exhilarating game in Sacramento to begin their post All-Star stretch

San Antonio played one of their most entertaining games of the season but came just short in the end.

After an excruciating week without regular season basketball, the Spurs finally returned to action on Thursday night by dropping an exhilarating game against the Kings 127-122.

The game was played at a ferocious pace from the start. Both teams ran hard after gaining possession and traded baskets back and forth. Devin Vassell was particularly hot by starting the game 5-5 from the field, which included a pair of drives and difficult pull-up threes. With Vassell catching fire, the Spurs ran a lot of their offense through him instead of prioritizing getting the ball to Wemby around the basket. Even so, the rookie phenom still made his presence felt by drawing deffenders away from the paint and making a number of smart passes.

Defensively, the Spurs played hard, but they were often a step behind Sacramento’s innovative offensive sets. The Kings went on a brief run in the second quarter and built up a small lead, and they looked poised to continue widening that gap. Domantis Sabonis and Kevin Huerter’s two-man game did a lot of damage, as the big man found “Red Velvet” on a number of smart cuts while also creating room for him to hit open threes off of pindowns. Thankfully for San Antonio, Vassell managed to keep Sac-town’s lead to single digits by making three consecutive baskets, and he ended the first half with 18 points on 8-10 shooting.

The game remained tightly contested for the rest of the night. Every time the Kings went on a run, San Antonio would answer with one of their own, and both sides continued to struggle to get stops. With that said, the Spurs surprisingly didn’t bleed points with Wemby off the floor, as the team did an admirable job of protecting the rim by committee.

Then, all hell broke loose in the fourth.

Down by just six, San Antonio managed to tie the game by forcing a number of turnovers and capitalizing on those opportunities. Defense continued to be optional as both teams got to the rim at will, and the Kings threw down a number of dunks that made the crowd erupt. With less than five minutes remaining, Keldon hit two threes to tie the game, and the Spurs managed to build up a five-point lead following a desperate Vassell heave from deep.

Unfortunately, San Antonio’s youth and inexperience reared its ugly head from that point on. The Spurs continued to give up easy shots for Sacramento while also stagnating on offense. Wemby was forced to shoot a missed contested three with under two minutes remaining before the Kings answered at the other end, which essentially sealed the game. Vassell then had a chance to make it a one-point game with 30 seconds left, but his dunk attempt was thwarted by De’Aaron Fox, who made the play of the game by recovering and making the block from behind.

In the end, the Spurs dropped a wildly entertaining game to a more experienced team. Even though they didn’t come away with a W, San Antonio should still be proud of the way they competed throughout the night.

Game notes

• Vassell was on FIRE for the entire game. He finished with 32 points and 7 assists on scorching 13-18 shooting and 3-4 from three. A lot of that was due to hot shooting (which we’ve seen from him before), but what impressed me more was his playmaking and finishing game. For example, he found Wemby with this past in crunch time that let the Spurs tie the game..

It might not seem like much, but those plays were few and far between just a few months ago. He also had a number of tough finishes which showed his ability to react and adjust on the fly.

• For his lofty standards, Wemby didn’t have a great game. Yet, he still finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks, but on just 8-21 shooting. Sabonis definitely got the better of him, which is rare considering he’s already one of the best defenders in the league. It seemed like Wemby was confused and caught out of position multiple times by Sacramento’s cutting and motion offense, which makes sense considering the Kings like to run their offense through Sabonis from the elbow. There was even one play when he walked right past Wemby as if the rookie wasn’t even there:

It’s just one game, and Wemby is still learning. But if we give him flowers for his good games, then we also need to point out the times when he loses a matchup.

• The Spurs defense competed, but they just couldn’t keep up with Sacramento’s innovative attack. Just take a look at the play below, which freed Huerter up for an open three.

NBA offenses are becoming so advanced now that these types of plays happen every game. With that said, they shouldn’t happen multiple times, which took place on Thursday night. Sure, this Spurs team is still young and growing, but it’s also on Pop to make the proper adjustments to give them their best chance of succeeding.

Play of the game

Here’s another impressive finish from Vassell, which came off of a nice two-man play between him and Wemby.

Next game: @ Lakers on Friday

It’ll be another tough game against a motivated Lakers team that got blown out by Golden State on Thursday. LeBron didn’t dress for that match, but he’s currently questionable to play on Friday.