Spurs Record-Setting Win Over Kings Part of Promising Trend on Offense

The Spurs destroyed the shorthanded Kings on Tuesday night in Sacramento, and set some records in the process.

San Antonio had a new season high for made 3-pointers before the third quarter ended, and finished the game with a franchise-record 25. They also logged 41 assists for the first time all season.

It was the second night of a back-to-back set for the Spurs, who never trailed in this game and kept all of their starters under 24 minutes. Victor Wembanyama scored 18, leading six Spurs with 15 points or more. De'Aaron Fox, Julian Champagnie, Harrison Barnes, Keldon Johnson, and Dylan Harper all came along for the ride.

"I thought we did a good job getting out in transition and playing with some pace, and we moved the ball with some kick aheads and kicking across and flatten the defense out," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the game.

"We've been able to do that at times in this past month or so, we've been able to shoot the ball at a decent clip, and I think there's a good amount of that that's probably going into the previous chunk of that possession that leads into the shots," he said. "I think our expectation of where our shots are coming from and our teammates shots are coming from have allowed us to get into a little bit better rhythm shooting lately."

San Antonio moves to 51-18 on the year, winners of 19 of their last 21 games as they chase the Thunder for the best record in the NBA. They have the league's best offense since the start of February, scoring 121.1 points per 100 possessions in that stretch. Their true shooting percentage of 60.8% is the best in the league, and they're fourth in 3-point percentage at 37.9%. They're averaging 30.4 assists per game, the most in the NBA, and nearly the best assist to turnover ratio.

"It's grown for sure, I think our defense has played a big part in that because when we can get out and play in transition in the open court I think you see a lot of the dynamic talent we have and the variety of personnel on the court," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said last night.

"The guys are really committed to trying to understand the nuances and the details of the offense, and what I mean by that is timing, spacing, sequential actions where you don't get bogged down in terms of the ball stops or you don't have pace, and you continue to try to probe and find advantages throughout a possession," Johnson said.

"The guys get a lot of credit for that, cause we have a lot of guys that are very dynamic with the basketball in their hands, and we knew the only way that it was gonna work was if we played together, and set screens for each other, and space for each other, and pass to each other," he said.

The clinic on unselfish ball movement continued in Sacramento with ruthless efficiency as the Spurs sliced and diced the Kings in a game that turned out to be just as lopsided as it should have been. Julian Champagnie's five made triples gave him 11 such games on the season, a new Spurs record. Stephon Castle stayed under double figure scoring, but he dished out a team-high 12 assists with no turnovers on the night.

"He was great," Johnson said of his second-year point guard. "And even at that, I yelled at him still, because we ran a play when he missed a guy in the corner. And so it tells you the level some of these guys are playing at, and the unselfishness and togetherness."

Johnson holds his Spurs to a high standard, and that includes the expectations of playing hard no matter who the opponent is or what the score is.

"I think we have done a good job all year of just being where our feet are at," Johnson said. "We've always acknowledged and discussed what we're walking out of, and we haven't avoided or tried to give too much power to what's ahead of us, because we can't control it. I think we've done a good job of just being very present where our feet are. I think that's allowed us to not ride the emotions and the circumstances of the season."