Spurs Suffer Crushing Loss to Kings Without Victor Wembanyama
The San Antonio Spurs have kept it close in all three meetings with the Sacramento Kings this season, but once again fell victim to late-game miscues in a crushing 131-129 loss at the Golden 1 Center on Thursday night.
Kings star forward Domantas Sabonis came up with a steal and go-ahead fastbreak dunk with 7.7 seconds left to cap a 7-0 run and stun the Spurs (13-50), who had erased a 20-point first-half deficit and were up by as many as eight in the fourth quarter despite being without star rookie Victor Wembanyama due to an ankle injury.
“We did a lot of good things,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I really feel bad for them. They competed, they executed they did a fine job.”
Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) dribbles past San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley (14) in the second quarter at the Golden 1 Center.
© Cary Edmondson, USA TODAY
Sabonis finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists while guard De'Aaron Fox scored a game-high 33 points for the Kings (36-26) before fouling out late.
San Antonio guard Devin Vassell had a team-high 30 points and nine assists without Wemby in the lineup. Zach Collins added 22 points and seven rebounds. The Spurs also got a huge boost from their bench, as Malaki Branham went 5 of 5 from 3-point range for 23 points while Blake Wesley (11 points) and Keldon Johnson (22 points) also came through with double-digit efforts.
The Kings also got double figures from Harrison Barnes (17 points), Keon Ellis (11 points) and Malik Monk (18 points, seven rebounds, nine assists), who hit the game-tying triple with 23.1 seconds left. Looking for a chance to end the game right there, Branham instead tossed a bad pass to Collins that Sabonis easily intercepted and took the other way to seal the win.
The Spurs will look to bounce back from one of their more heartbreaking losses of the season when they visit the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT.
