Kings Continue Winless Start After Road Loss at San Antonio

The Sacramento Kings could not contain Victor Wembanyama. 

The French superstar scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Kings 130-103 on Tuesday night in San Antonio. 

The Spurs won their first home game of the season and evened their record at 2-2 after opening with disappointing home losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. 

The Kings are left still looking for their first win. Veteran center Domantas Sabonis led the Kings with 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points while Zach LaVine added 22 points.

Julian Champagnie scored 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the three-point line. Dylan Harper added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. As a team, the Spurs shot 17-of-37 from beyond the arc.

The Kings took an early 11-10 lead with 7:41 left in the first quarter off a layup and tip shot by Sabonis. The Spurs responded with a 10-2 run capped by a dunk by Harper to lead Sacramento 20-13 with 6:11 left in the opening period. 

Three-point baskets by Hunter and Darius Acuff Jr. highlighted a mini 8-0 run to put Sacramento ahead 23-22. Acuff finished with 19 points and became the first NBA rookie to score 30 points, and second fastest to score 50 points with 10 assists. 

before San Antonio closed out the first quarter leading 39-27. Wembanyama scored 15 points with four dunks and 7-of-10 from the floor in the first quarter.

A 41-25 second quarter put the Spurs ahead 80-54 entering halftime. Devin Vassell was a perfect 3-for-3 from the three-point line in the first five minutes of the game and finished 4-of-7 from three. Champagnie shot 8-of-10 on three-point range in the first half.

The Kings battled to a 49-50 second half with the Spurs. The Kings shot 40-93 from the floor including 13-of-37 from the three-point line and 10-of-13 from the free throw line.  

The Spurs made nine more field goals, four three-pointers and five free throws than the Kings. With Wembanyama, the Spurs out-rebounded the Kings 46-38. 

The Kings followed up an 0-5 preseason with an 0-4 start to the season. Sabonis is not yet ready to give up hope on the season, as he posted on X, “Stay the course. Lot of ball left to be played.”

Up next for the Kings is a road trip to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans on Thursday night. The Spurs will travel to Utah on Wednesday night.