The San Antonio Spurs look to build on their season-high seven-game winning streak and continue their push toward the top of the Western Conference standings when they play the hapless Sacramento Kings on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
The Spurs are in second place in the West but have been gaining on injury ravaged Oklahoma City over the past month. San Antonio came out of the All-Star break with a bang, rolling to a 121-94 win over short-handed Phoenix on Thursday in Austin behind 20 points from Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama’s 17 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and four assists in three quarters of court time.
“Guys are healthy, and think we were dying to get back around each other, too,” Castle said about the roaring return from the break. “That was just the kind of tone that we set to start the game and to start the second half. I feel like that’s where it showed.”
Dylan Harper scored 17 points and De’Aaron Fox tallied 15 while Devin Vassell had 12 and Luke Kornet hit for 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field for the Spurs, who dominated the middle two periods and rested their starters in the fourth quarter in advance of Saturday’s second game in Austin.
“When coming into the rest of the season, I think it’s about us,” Fox said. “Obviously, playing good or bad, you want to win the game. But I think right now, it’s about how we’re playing, win or lose, because we’re trying to build towards something. So right now, we’re focused on being ready when we need to be, and that’s in April.”
The Spurs’ seven-game winning streak is the longest current stretch of wins in the league.
Conversely, the Kings travel to the capital of Texas on the heels of a 131-94 loss at home to Orlando that extended Sacramento’s losing streak to 15 games, the longest in the NBA this season. The Kings have the league’s worst record (12-45) and have not won since Jan. 16, when they defeated Washington at home to cap a four-game winning streak.
“Our fans deserve more. We’ll get there,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “It’s as painful as it gets. We need to make sure that we are better, and we will be.”
The Kings’ skid is the longest in franchise history, supplanting the 14-game losing streaks endured by the team when it was known as the Cincinnati Royals in the 1959-60 and 1971-72 campaigns.
“I know the season has been a lot for the fans,” said Sacramento rookie center Maxime Raynaud, who is expected to be in the starting lineup the rest of the season with Domantas Sabonis out for the rest of the year after left knee surgery.
“Winning is important. We’re going to get it fixed. It’s not the prettiest right now, but we’re going to get it back on track.”
Raynaud led Sacramento with 17 points and 14 rebounds on Thursday while Keegan Murray recorded 15 points for the Kings after he missed the previous 20 games with an ankle injury. Precious Achiuwa and Malik Monk added 14 points each, DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points and Devin Carter tallied 11 in the loss.
The Spurs took the first game of the season series with Sacramento 123-110 in the Alamo City on Nov. 16. After Saturday’s clash, the teams will play once more — in Sacramento on March 17.
