All Sacramento Kings guard Dariius Acuff Jr (5) could do is watch San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) go up for the shot at Front Bank Arena in San Antonio in pre season action on Fri Oct 16, 2026 ( photo by SBG Gabe Redondo)

By Mauricio Segura

The San Antonio Spurs turned Friday night’s Kings preseason meeting into a lopsided affair, building a 24-point first-quarter advantage and cruising to a 126-97 victory.

San Antonio controlled the opening minutes, using aggressive defense, efficient shooting and a balanced offensive attack to overwhelm a Sacramento team that struggled to establish any consistency. By halftime, the Spurs owned a 71-37 advantage, leaving the Kings with an enormous deficit to overcome.

Former Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox helped set the tone against his old team, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter. Victor Wembanyama established an imposing presence around the basket, while Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle contributed to an offense that repeatedly exploited Sacramento’s defensive breakdowns.

Zach LaVine opened the scoring with a jumper, briefly giving Sacramento a 2-0 lead. San Antonio responded with a 12-0 run, capped by Vassell’s three-pointer following two Wembanyama free throws awarded after a flagrant foul against Domantas Sabonis.

Things deteriorated rapidly for Sacramento as Fox connected on consecutive three-pointers, extending San Antonio’s advantage to 24-8 with 7:19 remaining in the opening quarter. The Kings struggled to finish around the basket, with Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie rejecting attempts by Sabonis.

The Spurs eventually stretched their advantage to 31-8 before Sacramento managed to interrupt the scoring drought. San Antonio finished the period ahead 42-18, having established control of nearly every aspect of the contest.

Sacramento’s offensive difficulties continued in the second quarter, when San Antonio opened with a 13-2 run that extended its advantage to 55-20.

Sabonis endured an especially difficult opening half. The Kings center collected three personal fouls before halftime, committed several turnovers and struggled with his free throws. He finished the half with five points, although his rebounding became more productive as the game progressed.

Rookie Maxime Raynaud was absent from the recorded action, leaving Sacramento to rely on Sabonis and Precious Achiuwa for much of its interior production.

Rookie guard Nique Clifford and fellow Sacramento reserves received opportunities as the contest progressed, but it was rookie Darius Acuff Jr. who provided much of the Kings’ first-half offense. Acuff contributed 13 points before halftime, attacking the basket and converting a three-pointer.

Still, San Antonio’s advantage reached 37 points late in the second quarter before Sacramento narrowed the halftime deficit to 34.

Sacramento opened the third quarter with seven unanswered points, cutting the deficit to 71-44. LaVine supplied three free throws during that stretch, while Sabonis and Ben Simmons converted baskets.

The improvement continued as LaVine found his scoring rhythm and Simmons became increasingly productive as a distributor.

Yet every Sacramento advance encountered another San Antonio response.

Dylan Harper connected on three three-pointers during the third quarter, helping the Spurs maintain their comfortable advantage. His outside shooting was particularly damaging after Sacramento had briefly reduced the deficit to 25 points.

LaVine finished with 20 points to lead Sacramento, including 12 in the third quarter. Simmons contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, while Sabonis recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds. Achiuwa added 13 points, matching Acuff’s production.

For San Antonio, Harper finished with 19 points, followed by Fox with 16 and Keldon Johnson with 15. Wembanyama registered 14 points and eight rebounds, while Castle contributed 13 points.

Sacramento outscored San Antonio 35-30 in the third quarter, but the earlier damage was far too extensive to erase. The Spurs maintained a 101-72 advantage heading into the fourth.

The final quarter produced 25 points for each team, preserving San Antonio’s 29-point victory.

The Kings open the regular season against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Wed Oct 21 a 7:30pm PDT tip.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.

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