San Antonio Spurs guard Josh Richardson (7) and Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) chase the ball during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento on Thu Nov 17, 2022 (AP News photo)

It’s Five In A Row For Sacramento Beating Spurs 130-112

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the red-hot Sacramento Kings (8-6) took on the San Antonio Spurs (6-10) looking for their fifth win in a row. The Kings have one of the high powered offenses in the NBA right now. Their ball movement is on fire and they are taking high percentage shots and not forcing anything. This team is not leaning too heavily on one player, but rather they are trusting each other. The Huerter Sabonis connection has been insane and so much fun to watch.

This was true test for the Kings playing against a Gregg Popovich led team. The Spurs played hard and pushed Sacramento to the limits. The Kings played without Keegan Murray who sat out the game with a back issue. His injury is not considered to be a long-term issue and that is good news for the Kings. The Kings picked up their fifth straight win over the Spurs 130-112 at Golden One Center in Sacramento.

The Kings won the first quarter 37-28 leading at one time by sixteen points. The Spurs made a push getting to within four points but the Kings pushed back and held a 63-56 lead going into halftime. De’Aaron Fox had scored 12 points in the first half and off the bench Malik Monk also had twelve points.

The Spurs refused to go away and this game was tied a number of times in the third quarter. With 2:09 left in the quarter the scored was tied 80-80. At 1:18 the score was again tied at 82 and the Kings would have to go the distance and pull out all the stops in this one. After three quarters the Kings led 89-82.

The Kings would extend that lead down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Fox and Monk were shooting lights out. Monk was shooting 50% from downtown and Fox was 10 of 13 and 24 points with 7:32 left in the game. With a little over two minutes left on the clock, Sacramento was in the driver’s seat. With 1:37 the Kings had a 128-110 lead and their fifth win in a row was in sight.

All five of the starters for the Spurs shot in double digits with Devin Vassell the high with 29 points. The Spurs just could not handle the offensive excellence of Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox finished with 28 points and Malik Monk had 26 off the bench.

This was an all-around effort by the Kings. Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis both had 16 and off the bench Trey Lyles had 14 points and Chimezie Metu with 10. This was just another solid offensive and defensive game for Sacramento. They fought throughout the game holding onto the lead through four quarters.

Next up for the Kings will be on Sunday when they take on the Detroit Pistons. They will be gunning for their sixth win in a row. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM.