NBA: Domantas Sabonis, Kings extend Spurs’ misery

FILE – Domantas Sabonis #10 and De’Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings react after Trey Lyles #41 made a three-point basket against the Houston Rockets in the second half at Golden 1 Center on January 11, 2023 in Sacramento, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP

Domantas Sabonis racked up a season-high 34 points and added 11 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox amassed 31 points and 10 assists as the visiting Sacramento Kings defeated the struggling San Antonio Spurs 119-109 on Wednesday.

The Kings led by one with less than 10 minutes to go but put away the game with a 15-5 run over a 2 1/2-minute run starting in the middle of the fourth quarter.

After struggling from beyond the arc through the first three quarters, Sacramento hit three 3-pointers over the final six minutes to win their second straight game.

The Spurs took their seventh loss in a row and fell for the 12th time in 13 games.

Sabonis logged his league-leading 39th double-double of the season. Malik Monk had 22 points for Sacramento, and Harrison Barnes scored 14.

A big night for Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox in the Kings W 💪

Sabonis: 34 PTS, 11 REB, 4 AST
Fox: 31 PTS, 10 AST, 3 STL pic.twitter.com/DgjNLJn84F

— NBA (@NBA) February 2, 2023

Malaki Branham scored 22 points for San Antonio, the best total of his rookie season. Josh Richardson had 19 points, Jakob Poeltl added 18 points and 12 rebounds, Keldon Johnson also had 18 points and Zach Collins scored 14 for the Spurs.

The Kings led for the majority of the opening quarter and held a 31-30 advantage after 12 minutes of play.

The game was tied twice early in the second quarter before Sacramento produced a 12-0 run capped by Monk’s alley-oop dunk near the halfway mark of the period. The Spurs never got closer than seven points over the rest of the half, which ended with Sacramento up 61-54.

Even worse for San Antonio were first-quarter injuries sustained by Tre Jones (left foot) and Jeremy Sochan (lower back) that kept them out for the rest of the game.

Sabonis racked up 21 points in the first half, 2.5 more than his season per-game average and his highest opening half output this season. Fox added 15 for the Kings prior to the break. Johnson and Branham had 12 points each to lead the Spurs before halftime.

The Kings have won all three of the games against San Antonio this season and five straight matchups vs. the Spurs overall.

RELATED STORIES