The Sacramento Kings look to build on a three-game winning streak and on their best start in 17 years when they square off against the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Sunday in the Alamo City.
The matchup is between the highest-scoring team in the NBA (Sacramento) and the squad that allows the most points in the league (San Antonio).
The Kings (23-18) are five games over .500 for the first time since 2006, which is also the most recent year Sacramento has earned a spot in the postseason.
The Kings head to Texas after a 139-114 home win over Houston on Friday — the second win over the Rockets in a two-day span. Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists to produce his fourth triple-double of the season and set the pace for Sacramento.
Harrison Barnes had a team-high 27 points for the Kings, De’Aaron Fox added 24, Terence Davis scored 22, Malik Monk hit for 15 and Trey Lyles tallied 13 off the bench as Sacramento shot 54.7 percent from the floor and canned 20 of their 40 3-point attempts.
The victory was punctuated by the fourth-quarter ejections of the Kings’ Monk and Chimezie Metu and Houston’s Garrison Mathews and Tari Eason when two pairs tussled after Matthews fouled Monk during the chase for a loose ball.
“We had no issue with it,” Barnes said afterward about the players exchanging words. “At the end of the day, that’s the fight that we need as a team. That’s the fight we need for this season, and that’s the fight we’re going to need for the playoffs, so I’m all for it.”
San Antonio (13-20) looks to get back on the winning track after a 144-113 home-away-from home loss to Golden State on Friday. The game was played in the Alamodome, the Spurs’ home from 1993-2002, and set an NBA regular-season attendance mark of 68,323.
Most of those fans went home unhappy when San Antonio got blown away by the defending champions, giving up 81 points over the two middle periods after which it trailed by 25 points on the way its fourth straight loss and seventh in the past eight games.
“It was really incredible to see the way the crowd got into the game and they seemed like they were into the game despite the fact we were getting our butts kicked,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said afterward. “It was a great opportunity for our guys to learn.”
Tre Jones paced San Antonio with 21 points in the setback, with Keldon Johnson scoring 17, Doug McDermott adding 14, Malaki Branham hitting for 12 points and Romeo Langford tallying 11. The 144 points surrendered by the Spurs were the most in a game this season.
“Obviously, I hate to lose, and my teammates, we hate to lose,” Johnson said. “We go out there and compete to win, but with the type of (fan) turnout that we had, how can you be mad? They surpassed anything that we can imagine. It made the night special.”
The Kings have won the past three games against San Antonio, including a 130-112 decision in Sacramento on Nov. 17.
–Field Level Media