Sacramento plays some great defense, but it isn't enough to overcome bad offense of their own and allowing the Spurs many second chances.
The San Antonio Spurs used big 2nd and 4th quarters to carry on their now season-high 12 game winning streak, beating the Kings 99-79 in their third and final matchup of the season. Marc Belinelli led the Spurs in scoring with 17 points off the bench.
The Kings actually had a relatively superb defensive effort, holding the Spurs to just 38.7% from the field and 20.0% from three. Two key differences however lay in turnovers, where the Kings had 15 to San Antonio's 9, and second chance points. The Spurs grabbed 13 offensive rebounds to Sacramento's 7 and outscored the Kings 19 to 4 on second chance points. Tiago Splitter was a big early culprit there, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds on the night.
Sacramento never really found an offensive rhythm, and their 79 points was a season-low. Isaiah Thomas led the way with 18 points, but shot just 7-17 from the field. Kawhi Leonard did a fantastic job on Rudy Gay, holding him to just 4-14 from the field for 14 points, but Rudy even missed some wide open shots and layups that he normally wouldn't. One such possession in the third quarter saw Rudy miss a point blank layup that would have cut San Antonio's lead to 5, but he missed it off the back iron and the Spurs instead ran it back for a three, a five point swing.
DeMarcus Cousins struggled with his shot as well, going just 7-18 from the field for his 15 points, but did have good contributions in other areas with 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 5 blocks. The only other player to score in double digits for Sacramento was Travis Outlaw, who scored 13 points on 9 shots off the bench. The rest of Sacramento's bench totaled just 8 points, compared to 46 for San Antonio's bench.
Royce White saw his first official NBA action as the game wound down, playing just 56 seconds and tallying absolutely no statistic, not even a positive or negative +/-. White will likely see more meaningful time Sunday against Milwaukee.
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