Teams in the NBA might start to view the Sacramento Kings as a tune-up on the schedule, but that attitude could lead to an upset against the San Antonio Spurs. Eventually teams begin to get desperate for
wins and come out playing twice as hard, and consider how the Kings have lost five in a row.
The Spurs, however, were last humbled by Stephen Curry’s wizardry in Friday and Wednesday’s losses to the Golden State Warriors. They are trying to avoid three straight defeats for the first time this season.
Additionally, the Spurs are 5-2 at home this year. They post a nearly identical defensive rating at home and away. Yet, notably, they take four more 3-pointers at from Frost Bank Center and their long-range accuracy is 6.7 percent higher than it is on the road. (38.5). Here is what you need to know about the matchup:
San Antonio Spurs (8-4) v. Sacramento Kings (3-10)
Nov. 16, 2025: 3 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel SW
Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Injury report not yet submitted for both teams.
What to watch for:
- Russell Westbrook is having his most efficient season scoring at 0-3 feet. He is still a high-volume playmaker at age 37 and pushes the pace for the Kings, who are the sixth-fastest team in the NBA. Yet that eats away at their legs on defense as they are one of the four worst teams in the NBA at guarding. The Spurs should have no problem passing to the weak side for cuts and jumpers resulting in baskets or even exploiting their weak transition defense.
- Malik Monk is a dangerous weapon off Sacramento’s bench who can swing a game by getting hot in a hurry. The Spurs will have to stay up on him at the level of the screen to contain him, or else he’ll walk into jumpers. On top of that, they have to set high pick-up points when he takes the ball up court so he isn’t in target practice.
- It’s natural for anyone to want to show their old partners what they’re missing, and it’s possible De’Aaron Fox puts a lashing on his old team. They don’t have the options to bother him, so count on Fox zipping downhill until he gets tired of it. Sacramento will probably overplay him on screen rolls, so a second-straight game with double-figure assists isn’t out of the question.
- Considering how Domantas Sabonis won’t want to guard Victor Wembanyama on the perimeter, expect the latter to down open jumpers against drop coverage or when the smaller players tag him.
- Neutralizing Sabonis and Zach LaVine is the way. Sabonis is an average outside shooter for his career, but he moves well without the ball after setting a high volume of screens and crashing the offensive boards. Wemby will play help off of him at times when he’s on the perimeter. Stephon Castle should get plenty of time on Zach LaVine when he takes the ball up court and when he is playing off-ball.
- Has anyone noticed the connection between Castle and Luke Kornet? The former has assisted on eight of the latter’s 20 field goals this year, which doubles his second-leading connector, Wembanyama. Opponents lose track of Kornet as soon as Castle takes off for the rim, and his size makes him a vertical threat on the cut as well. Expect more easy feeds from Castle to Kornet against Sac’s weak screen-roll defense.
