The San Antonio Spurs got their first taste of Emirates Cup play on their successful trip to the home of the struggling Sacramento Kings. Despite the Kings being overmatched in talent, they gave a solid effort looking for their second win that made the Spurs sweat at times.
Things started getting ugly as the visitors kept plugging away on the glass and raised their lead to 16 points in the non-Victor Wembanyama minutes thanks in part to their 3-point shooting, ball security and Keldon Johnson’s hustle.
They went on to have their second-highest scoring first half of the season (76), but had trouble getting back into their flow in the third quarter.
Their large cushion was soon sliced nearly in half until Wemby led the charge that got them back on track. There were some defensive lapses in the following period, but the Spurs quickly atoned for them with a 3-pointer or a move inside.
Observations
- They were playing like they thought it would be easy early, allowing open 3-point attempts and transition baskets, but the flow of the game started changing when the Spurs started consistently getting to the line. The trickle effect was forcing the Kings to slow down offensively and take more bad shots, which put the Spurs in the transition.
- Wembanyama was merciless, scoring 30 points on 55.6 shooting at short and long range, while adding 14 rebounds and two blocks. He took his final rest with eight minutes left as the Spurs were up 22 points.
- Darius Acuff Jr. has been the league’s highest-scoring rookie, yet he can be a bit of a chucker, so the Spurs defended him mostly without help and in drop coverage on screen rolls. The strategy was more successful in the first half, holding him to 37.5 percent shooting, yet he started getting loose after.
- For a while, the Spurs were making mincemeat of the Kings, even having Acuff and Leaky Black frustrated with each other within five minutes of the game. It started with Devin Vassell’s early marksmanship helping steady the offense, and then Victor Wembanyama’s inside pressure piled on, leaving them without answers. The Kings would also go to a zone when Wemby sat, but the ball movement made them pay for it.
- The Kings do a bad job of helping the helper, which resulted in tons of clean outside looks and the Spurs setting a new season high in 3-point percentage. Wemby and Vassell combined for nine 3-point makes.
- The Spurs had a rough start to the third quarter, making 25 percent of their attempts through eight minutes. The Kings made four 3-pointers in that span, yet the flow started slowly turning back to the Spurs because the Kings could not defend without fouling, again. To boot, the Spurs went on to shot the most free throws of the season (42).
- In the first half, Stephon Castle was too strong on the move to be denied. He wasn’t as assertive later but finished an emphatic lob supplied by Wemby. He finished with 19 points on 53.8 percent shooting with seven assists against one turnover.
- Crisis averted: Domantas Sabonis committed a flagrant one by sticking his foot under Wembanyama’s landing space on a 3-point attempt, causing his ankle to roll. Wemby made two-of-three at the line and subsequently looked fine in the next half.
- De’Aaron Fox didn’t have the biggest night on the stat sheet, but made good reads that helped take and maintain the lead.
- Aside from the trophy, each player on the winning side of the in-season tournament gets $604,985.
