SACRAMENTO — Admit it, you saw that Victor Wembanyama was going to miss Thursday night’s game at the Kings and started feeling a certain kind of way. Then you remembered that the Kings were going to be on the second night of a back-to-back after a spirited win at the Lakers and the feeling intensified. You remembered what happened Monday when the short-handed Bulls came to town and all but conceded a loss.
It’s okay. You weren’t alone.
And when the Kings trailed the Spurs 31-30 after the first quarter, having hit on just two of their nine three point attempts, the words “here we go again” almost certainly went through your head, right?
But an 11-0 run to open the second quarter, one spurred by a lineup of De’Aaron Fox, Keon Ellis, Malik Monk, Trey Lyles, and Alex Len gave Sacramento a 44-33 lead. Mike Brown continued to play with unconventional lineups, playing Ellis and Davion Mitchell together for a stretch in the second as the Kings grew their lead. Both guards were solid in their minutes; with Ellis especially shining to the tune of 11 points, including three triples, and two steals in 17 minutes of action.
“When Keon steps on the court good things happen,” Fox said. “He’s a defensive playmaker, he makes things happen on the defensive end. He’s a much better shooter than people give him credit for. We have the confidence in him to shoot the ball.”
Sabonis added, “He’s been amazing. He’s poised. He comes out and just plays the right way. Doesn’t force anything. He’s great on the defensive side of the ball.”
Mike Brown spoke to his bench and the lift they’ve given his team a lift the last two games, but made sure to mention that he wasn’t going to make changes just for the sake of change. “At the end of the day, I am going to do whatever I think is best for the team. But I try not to have a knee-jerk reaction. I’m going to try and keep putting guys and this team in a position to win, and if you earn a right to play, I am going to throw you out there.”
A Fox steal and transition dunk pushed the lead to 20 with 4:34 to play in the first half, forcing a Gregg Popovich timeout. The Spurs responded with an 8-0 run to cut Sacramento’s lead to 12, and the Kings entered halftime up 71-59 after Devin Vassell made three free throws thanks to a late Keegan Murray foul.
Out of the break, the first unit gave little resistance, as the Spurs cut the lead to just seven in a scant two and a half minutes of play. The lead would shrink to as few as four in the frame before Sabonis connected with Fox for a backdoor alley-oop and then put the Spurs defense in a blender for a slick layup to force another San Antonio time-out.
But, like a reanimated corpse, the Spurs refused to die, getting within two points with five to play. They would trail by five at the close of the third, out-scoring the Kings 36-29 in the frame. San Antonio went on to tie the game at 103 less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter and take the lead on a pair of Jeremy Sochan free throws moments later, as they got hot from deep, hitting their first three threes of the final quarter. Their lead would grow to as many as eight as the offense sputtered for Sacramento and the defense put up little resistance in response. It didn’t help when Fox picked up his fifth foul with 6:11 to play and his team trailing 118-112.
Credit to the Kings’ point guard, who didn’t let his precarious position stop him from being aggressive. A driving layup cut the lead to four, and after a stop, Monk found Sabonis for an easy dunk, and suddenly the Kings were back within two with five minutes remaining in the contest. But the worst three point shooting team in the league kept hitting from deep, connecting on 16-34 from the game and 4-8 in the fourth quarter.
A pair of Harrison Barnes free throws got the Kings within one with less than three minutes to play, but Barnes fouled Malaki Branham on the ensuing possession stretched the lead back to three. Fox responded with a 15 footer, and a wild sequence on the other end ultimately led to a San Antonio turnover. But Sochan blocked Fox at the rim as he attempted to give his team the lead, while Keldon Johnson was able to finish in traffic to put San Antonio back up three.
Fox subsequently fouled out on a reach in after Monk’s sixth turnover, putting the Kings in the penalty, and sending the crowd to the exits.
They might have regretted trying to beat the traffic.
On Monday, Mike Brown talked about his team not getting to 50/50 balls. The message was received by Malik Monk, who went sprawling for a loose ball rebound, secured it, and drained a three on the other end to tie the game at 129. Sabonis wasn’t sure what his teammate was going to do in that moment, but knew it would be something. “I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Sabonis said. “He had turned the ball over quite a lot this game, but that’s Malik. That’s why we love him.”
Sabonis stole the ball on the Spurs’ next possession, going coast to coast to give Sacramento it’s first lead since one minute into the fourth.
The home team turned up the defensive intensity over the final 7.1, forcing a rushed three by Vassell and taking away a good look from Sochan, whose short shot clanged harmlessly off the rim as time expired. It wasn’t the prettiest win of the season, or oddly even the most dramatic, but it was incredibly important for a team trying to avoid the play-in with the regular season winding down.
Sabonis finished with his 45th consecutive double-double, and fell an assist shy of the triple-double, scoring 31 points and hauling in 17 rebounds. He was aggressive at the rim and an emotional leader, keeping his team engaged even when things looked bleak. Fox added 33 points – including and Barnes 17, while Murray (3) and Kevin Huerter (0) struggled mightily on the night.
“We have to stay the course,” Fox said in regards to his teammate’s struggles. “We talk about sprays to get open shots, we have to be better at that. We have to be able to get those guys in position. Sometimes, just get them an easy one, see the ball go into the basket. Sometimes you see that and the flood gates open.”
Once again, the bench was clutch,; though Monk struggled with turnovers he scored 18 and stepped it up on defense down the stretch. Mitchell and Lyles added nine apiece as well.
For San Antonio, Vassell finished with 30 and Zach Collins — starting for Wemby — had 22. Branham and Johnson added 23 and 22 respectively off the bench. They were out-rebounded 46-36 and out-executed down the stretch, but Sacramento still has a lot to learn, according to its players.
The message going into Thursday’s game, according to Sabonis: “just don’t drop an egg. We’ve done it countless times this year. We beat a top team then lose a game against a lower seed. There’s still a lot to learn.”
“Obviously we want to play much better than we did,” Fox said. “But you would rather learn the lesson in a win than a loss, especially with how the standings are.”
Mike Brown was more direct in his assessment. “Obviously, we found a way to get the win and we will take the win. But at the end of the day, we have to play better than that. We can’t accept the way that we played tonight and think that everything is going to be okay going forward.”
The Kings will look to not lay an egg Sunday, when the Rockets come to town. That game sets up a difficult stretch that will pit the Kings against a pair of Eastern Conference contenders in the Bucks and Knicks, with another date with the Lakers, this one at home, in between.
