Kings 129-120 Spurs (18 Nov, 2023) Game Recap

SAN ANTONIO — — Sacramento Kings All-Star De’Aaron Fox celebrated his in-season tournament appearance with his best game of the season.

De’Aaron Fox scored a season-high 43 points and the Sacramento Kings overcame Victor Wembanyama’s 27 points to hold off the San Antonio Spurs 129-120 Friday night and remain undefeated in the season’s tournament.

Sacramento is 2-0 in the West Group C standings and the Spurs are 0-3.

“I’m not one of those guys who says, ‘I think that’s stupid,’ because it’s not,” Fox said. “I think it could be interesting for this league. Like I said, almost every league in the world has some sort of tournament during the season, so I think it’s cool that the NBA is trying to implement it.

Domantas Sabonis had 27 points and 14 rebounds as Sacramento earned its fifth straight victory. Malik Monk added 20 points in the Kings’ fourth straight victory in San Antonio.

Zach Collins had 28 points and Keldon Johnson added 21 points for the Spurs, who have lost seven in a row after opening the season 3-2.

“It’s a daily struggle,” Wembanyama said. “I know the end of the season won’t look like the start of the season. We have a good way to go, progress.

Wembanyama was 12 of 26 from the field after scoring a season-low eight points in a 123-87 loss at Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

The 7-foot-3 French rookie added nine rebounds and a series of scoring plays.

Despite being pushed toward the baseline following a Keegan Murray foul, Wembanyama stretched behind the backboard to make a layup on an alley-oop pass from Collins.

“He’s a special player,” Fox said. “Extremely special player. When he rolls, you have to be under him because if they throw the ball, you literally can’t do anything.

But the Kings veterans withstood highlights and runs to beat the young Spurs.

Fox was the catalyst.

The seventh-year guard from Kentucky had 16 points in the fourth quarter and finished one point shy of his career-high of 44 points, which he did twice. It was the seventh 40-point game of his career.

Fox was 14 of 24 from the field, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

“He’s a great player,” Sacramento guard Chris Duarte said. “You see it day in and day out. He’s a guy we absolutely need to score the ball like he does.

The Kings went on a 7-0 run after the Spurs pulled within 112-111 with six minutes remaining to regain control of a back-and-forth game.

Sacramento opened the third quarter on a 15-4 run for its largest lead to that point at 77-66. San Antonio shot 1 of 5 during the run.

The Spurs were without starting guard Devin Vassell and backup point guard Tre Jones. Vassell sat out with a groin strain and Jones missed his third straight game with a right hamstring strain.

San Antonio had 33 assists despite missing two of its primary ball handlers.

The Spurs took a 9-0 lead with Wembanyama scoring six points. San Antonio opened the game going 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.

“He’s definitely someone to think twice about getting into painting because he’s so big,” Duarte said. “But we took advantage of it just by being physical with him and making it difficult for him.”

San Antonio extended the lead to 18 points in the first quarter only to lose that lead 30 seconds into the second quarter.

FOLLOWING

Kings: At Dallas on Sunday.

Spurs: Host Memphis on Saturday.

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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/nba