San Antonio Spurs bench comes big to orchestrate a 127-102 romp over the Sacramento Kings: NBA Recap
San Antonio Spurs continued their dominance in the Western Conference with a crushing 127-102 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Power Balance Pavilion.
Spurs coach Greg Popovich rested Tim Duncan for the night, while Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili played limited minutes but the Spurs 2nd unit did not let their coach down, helping their team score 127 points on the night.
7 Spurs players were in double figures, led by Tiago Splitter and Gary Neal with 17 points each. Rookie point guard Isaiah Thomas led the Kings in scoring with 21 points for the night. The Spurs retained the number 1 spot in the Western Conference with this
win and are now half game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sacramento started the game with a 6-0 run to give them their largest lead for the night. The Spurs came alive after a lazy start and matched the Kings on each possession. San Antonio led 29-28 at the close of the 1st quarter.
The 2nd quarter was very close. There were 4 lead exchanges and no team led by more than 5 points. The Kings had a 2 point lead with 8 seconds left in the half and would have loved to go into half time leading the Spurs, but a 3 point play by
Patty Mills with 4 seconds left on the clock gave the Spurs a 58-57 advantage going into the break.
The third quarter was owned by San Antonio, who finally started pulling away from the Kings. They outscored the Kings 39-29 in the third period. The Spurs went on a 13-4 run early in the quarter to lead 73-63, and later extended their lead to 84-71 on a
three point play by Tony Parker. They led 97-86 going into the final period.
The final quarter was even more in favour of the Spurs, who outscored the Kings 30-16. Already leading by 11, the Spurs opened the final period with a 20-6 run, and completely eliminated any changes the Kings had of getting back into the game. The Spurs
led 117-92 with 5:14 remaining in the game. Psychologically, the Kings had lost the match there and then. The Spurs finished the game to win 127-102.
Manu Ginobili played 17 minutes for his 13 points on 4-for-5 and Tony Parker played 25 minutes for 15 points and 8 assists. In the absence of star players, it was the bench that got the job done for the Spurs, outscoring the Kings bench 71-28.
Gary Neal was shooting baskets like the hoop was the size of the Pacific Ocean, going 8 of 9 from the field for his 17 points. Tiago Splitter was 6 of 8 from the field for his 17 points and 7 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard also got into the action, scoring 13 points
and grabbing 5 rebounds.
Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points and dished 8 assists for the Kings, while Marcus Thornton added 20 points. DeMarcus Cousins had 18 points and 9 rebounds for the night.
San Antonio shot an amazing 58.8% from the field and went 25 of 31 from the foul line. The Kings in response were 44.6% from the field and 14 of 20 from the free throw line. They were also only 6 of 21 from beyond the arc. The Spurs had 60 points in the
paint compared to 50 for the Kings, even though they did not have a high scoring big man like Cousins.
"It is a sense of pride. It's better than alternative. Everyone wants to be in a rhythm right now. It's too late in the season to lose a bunch of games when they really count at this point in the season. Being able to win down the stretch of the season,
nobody would trade that” said the Spurs coach Gregg Popovich referring to the recent form of his team.
Tags: