FOURTH QUARTER:
Final score: Kings 127. Spurs 112.
LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan didn't get a ton of help in Sacramento Monday night. The Spurs' stars had 22 and 24 points, respectively, and four other players scored in double figures, but the shooting wasn't there outside of the top two. The Silver & Black shot 43 percent, buoyed by DeRozan's 10-of-15 performance.
The Kings made more than 55 percent of their shots, led by 24 points off the bench for rookie Marvin Bagley III.
The Spurs fall to 32-23 and the Kings improve to 28-25. The Silver & Black will stay in California for a Wednesday night game against the Golden State Warriors. You can watch that one on KENS 5 at 9:30 p.m. Central.
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The Spurs got within five or seven points a couple of times, but the Kings appear to be too much tonight. Coach Pop is calling timeouts to try to stop the onslaught, but it's a 13-point deficit with 6 minutes remaining, and there haven't been many highlights in the period.
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Facing a 12-point gap to start the final frame, the Silver & Black needed to make a move, and they did, scoring the first five points of the fourth. That momentum started on the last play of the third.
THIRD QUARTER:
After three, the Spurs trail 98-86.
The Spurs got things going in the right direction, but haven't been able to sustain any momentum in this one. Blame the 9 p.m. Central tip-off?
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After trailing by four at the break, the Spurs are trying to chip away at the lead. If guys not named DeMar or LaMarcus can find a groove, the Silver & Black have a good chance.
SECOND QUARTER:
At halftime, the Kings lead 63-59.
The Spurs have been trailing most of the game, save for a brief moment where they pulled ahead in the late second quarter. DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge have 15 points each, shooting a combined 12-of-18. The rest of the team has 29 points on 11-of-31 shooting.
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Rudy Gay knows Sacramento well, having played for the Kings for four seasons. You know he wants to put on a show tonight.
If the rest of the Spurs could play like DeMar DeRozan, that would be great. He leads the Spurs with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. As a team, the Spurs are shooting 47 percent.
Patty Mills made just one of his six first-half shots, but it was a good one.
FIRST QUARTER:
After one, the Kings lead 37-25.
With Derrick White out for a little while, expect to see more of DeMar DeRozan handling the rock. If he keeps making plays like this, it's all good.
Davis Bertans may not be competing in the All-Star weekend three point shooting contest, but that lack of national attention might work in the Spurs' favor. These moments work better when the other team is surprised.
But as the first quarter wound down, there wasn't too much for the Spurs to celebrate in the midst of a Kings run.
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The Silver & Black enjoyed their recent stretch of home games, but now they'll look for road wins as the Stock Show & Rodeo uses the AT&T Center for most of February.
Riding a five-game winning streak, the Spurs (32-22) take on the Sacramento Kings (27-25) Monday night. The Spurs enter Monday's action in 5th in the West, 2 games behind the 3-seed Thunder and 2 games ahead of the 7-seed Utah Jazz.
The Kings are on 9th, half a game behind the Clippers for the 8th spot and half a game ahead of the Lakers in 10th. These games start to matter more and more as it becomes clear the Western Conference playoff seeding will be decided by just a game or two here or there.
Follow along with the game with the KENS 5 Spurs team below. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. Central at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
