Kings down Spurs for five-game win streak

Nov 18, 2022 - 2:24 PM

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The Sacramento Kings had high expectations to meet from their fan base after a very impressive beat down on TNT Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets, and this was another chance where the Kings could also steer away from it’s history of playing down to their opponents and build off of their strong momentum as they faced off against a hobbled San Antonio Spurs team.

The Kings essentially picked up right where they left off on Tuesday night. Sacramento got off to a blistering start and built themselves an early nine-point lead that they would sustain throughout the first half, closing the first two quarters up 63-56.

It was in the third quarter where the Kings started to truly lose their way. A scratching-their-head moment came over the team as you saw both Sabonis and Fox not together on the floor for a large portion of time. It wasn’t until the game was tied at 74 when Fox would re-enter the game with just under three minutes left to go in the third quarter. It was in that moment Sacramento would re-establish their dominance over the Spurs.

Fox put on a show in these late minutes. The first play after entering the game, he called for an isolation play on Devin Vassell, posted him and gave him a turnaround jumper. The very next play, No. 5 moved quickly up the court got a screen to get his mismatch and hit a step-in mid-range jumper. To end the quarter, Sacramento locked in defensively and had a chance to get the final shot. Fox called a play at the top left quarter that seemingly looked like he was going to get another isolation play ran. Instead, he read the Spurs double team and found the open shooter in Malik Monk (26 points) for the three-pointer.

Sacramento would lead 89-82 heading into the fourth. It was in this quarter the team would pull away with their energy on the defensive side of the ball which lead to easy baskets. The Kings extended their win streak to five games as the beam continues to shine throughout Sacramento. They have a good chance of extending this win streak as they face-off against a re-building Detroit Pistons team on Sunday afternoon.