Fab Five: Kings Win Fifth-Straight, Rout Spurs
Mar 29, 2021, 8:20 PM | Updated: 8:48 pm
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
Sacramento has won five-straight games for the first time since the 2018-19 season
The Sacramento Kings are looking more and more like a postseason threat with each passing game.
Thanks to strong play from both the starting and bench units, the Kings would put together one of their more impressive wins of the season in a 132-115 win over the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center.
With the win, Sacramento (22-25) wins their fifth-straight game for the first time since October 24th-November 1st of 2018.
The Kings are on quite a run, winning seven of their last eight games to fully insert themselves back into the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
Sacramento got off to a strong start on Monday night, shooting 56-percent from the field and 57-percent from three-point range to take a 68-60 lead into the halftime break.
The Kings got a strong boost from their newest additions to the bench, with Maurice Harkless, Delon Wright and Terence Davis combining to score 15 points in the first half–matching the bench output from Saturday’s win over Cleveland.
Thanks to strong play from Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento would open the half on a 23-13 run to push the lead well into double-digits.
Hield, the NBA’s leader in three-point field goals, would put his team up by 91-73 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter after drilling a three-ball in the corner.
In normal Kings fashion, the defense would let up late in the third to allow the Spurs to get back into the game, with San Antonio cutting the deficit to 97-91 heading into the fourth quarter.
Terence Davis would get the Kings off to a solid start in the fourth, scoring nine points over the first four minutes of action to keep Sacramento in front while De’Aaron Fox rested on the bench.
The bench would go on a 19-12 run to open up the quarter thanks to strong play from Davis and Harkless–who would catch an amazing behind-the-back dime from Tyrese Haliburton for a big three to put the Kings up 13.
Sacramento wouldn’t look back after the Harkless three, holding off a pesky Spurs offense in a game that featured both teams topping the 120-point mark.
This game was not a gimme win by any means, as the Kings defeated a San Antonio team that currently holds a 23-21 record as they sit in the eighth-spot in the Western Conference standings.
Games like Monday’s–wins against proven teams–are ones that this inexperienced Sacramento squad must find a way to win more times than not if they want to snap their 15-year postseason drought.
The 132-115 win was a perfect blueprint in how to do just that, with the starters doing their job and the bench providing something that the Kings have lacked for most of this season:
Positive production.
Rounding out the boxscore
All five Kings starters would finish in double-figures yet again for Sacramento, with reigning Western Conference Player of the Week De’Aaron Fox’s 24 points leading the way.
It was the 11th time over Fox’s last 12 games that he topped the 24-point mark, with the budding star finishing nine-of-18 from the field to go along with five assists, two blocks and two steals in the win.
Tyrese Haliburton was back to his ways of distributing the basketball, posting his second double-double of the season after dishing out 10 assists to go along with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals.
“When we’re playing loose, playing together and having fun, we’re a hard team to beat,” Haliburton said postgame of his team’s impressive run.
“We’re all here to help change the Kings culture, get the Kings back to the playoffs, do special things here in Sacramento. Things that they haven’t done in a long time.”
Seeing the rookie guard’s assist numbers rise was a welcome sight for the Kings, with Haliburton only dishing out 10 dimes over the previous three games. With De’Aaron Fox running the point in the starting unit, it’s natural for Haliburton’s assist numbers to take a dive while playing off of the ball, but the 21-year-old showed his playmaking potential in the win.
Richaun Holmes posted his 19th double-double of the season, scoring 23 points (eight-of-11 from the field) while grabbing 12 rebounds and swatting three blocks.
Holmes has blossomed into a premier big in the league this season, posting career-high’s in almost every statistical category while leading the entire NBA in field goal percentage.
Buddy Hield scored 20 points on five made triples, the first time that the 28-year-old has topped the 20-point mark since March 20th’s loss in Philadelphia.
To round out the starting unit, Harrison Barnes would add 14 points over 33 minutes of action.
Terence Davis would come up big in the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 14 points in the period.
The recently acquired guard would also rack up three rebounds, two assists and two steals over 18 minutes of play.
Moe Harkless would finish with a season-high 13 points on three-of-five shooting from downtown in his strongest showing of the season, while Delon Wright would tally four rebounds, five assists and a steal to round out the newest Kings.
Coming Up
The Kings and Spurs will return to AT&T Center for round two on Wednesday night in another meaningful game as both team’s chase a Western Conference play-in spot.
Be sure to tune in for all of the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, with pregame coverage beginning at 3:00pm PST on The Jason Ross & Doug Christie Show prior to a 5:30pm PST tip-off.
Upcoming Kings Schedule
- March 31 @ San Antonio Spurs
- April 2 vs Los Angeles Lakers
- April 3 vs Milwaukee Bucks
- April 5 @ Minnesota Timberwolves
- April 8 vs Detroit Pistons
