Sabonis’ double-double helps Kings power past Spurs 119-109

SAN ANTONIO(AP) — Domantas Sabonis scored a season-high 34 points and had 11rebounds and the Sacramento Kings beat San Antonio 119-109 onWednesday night, handing the beleaguered Spurs their seventhstraight loss.

“If theyare going to be down there trying to guard him one-on-one, ‘Hey,yo, go score,’” Kings guard De’Aaron Fox said. “If you have toshoot the ball 10, 15 times in a row, do it.”

Sabonisfinished 15 for 20 from the field.

Fox added31 points, 10 assists and had just one turnover for Sacramento,which has won two straight and nine of 12 to remain atop thePacific Division.

The Spurs,who have lost 12 of 13, were led by a season-high 22 points fromrookie Malaki Branham. But already without Devin Vassell, the Spurslost starters Tre Jones and Jeremy Sochan to injury in the firstquarter.

Evenwithout three of its top six scorers, San Antonio kept pace withSacramento’s league-leading offense for most of the game. JoshRichardson added 19 points for the Spurs in his return aftermissing three games with a sore left knee.

“They do itevery game,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “They stickwith it and they play hard every game. One out of every 10 or so,we might lay and egg, but everybody else does the same thing. Ihave always been pleased with their effort and theirstick-to-itiveness.”

Sacramento,which matched its season average of 119.5 points per game, went ona 14-2 run in taking a 49-37 lead midway through the secondquarter.

The Kingswere 8 for 27 on 3-pointers, but compensated for the poor outsideshooting with a season-high 74 points in the paint.

Sabonisignited the inside dominance, scoring 17 points primarily in thepaint in the first quarter while shooting 7 for 9.

“In thefirst quarter, they were trying to play him one-on-one and notallow him to spread the ball,” Fox said. “Obviously, he’s a superunselfish guy, but if they are going to guard him like that, we alltell him, go score the ball because at some point they are going tohave to start helping.”

The Spurspulled within three points twice in the third quarter and cut thedeficit to 89-88 two minutes into the fourth on Doug McDermott’scutting layup. But the Kings responded each time with a short runto maintain their advantage.

“Stoppingthem from getting in the paint,” Sacramento guard Malik Monk said.“After they made a little run, we locked in. Went to the timeout,said, ‘We can’t let them in the paint,’ and we did that. That’s howwe held the lead.”

Monk added22 points while playing 33 minutes off the bench.

TIP-INS

Kings:Sabonis’ previous high was 31 points against Denver on Dec. 28. ...Sacramento did not have a single player listed on its injuryreport. ... The Kings clinched the season series with their thirdvictory over The Spurs. The series finale is April 2 in Sacramento.The Kings’ last loss to the Spurs was 136-117 on Nov. 10, 2021, inSan Antonio.

Spurs:Popovich said there was no update on Sochan and Jones’ status afterthe game. Sochan exited with 5:11 remaining in the first quarterafter clutching at his lower back. Sochan was fouled while fightingfor position under the rim against Fox. Jones left with 2:58remaining in the first after injuring his left foot. ... G RomeoLangford missed his fifth straight game with left adductortightness. … C Zach Collins had 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting.

ALL-STAR NODS

Sabonis andFox put up double-doubles in their final game before All-Starreserves are announced Thursday.

Sacramentocoach Mike Brown hopes their outings serve as a punctuation totheir selections given how well both have played for the surprisingKings this season.

“I hopeso,” Brown said. “You’ve got to think people would take intoconsideration your record. To me, Fox and Domas are clearAll-Stars, but at the end of the day, it’s not just mydecision.”

UPNEXT

Kings: AtIndiana on Friday.

Spurs: HostPhiladelphia on Friday.