The Sacramento Kings were done in by poor play during the even quarters, during their 108-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
In the first and third quarters, Sacramento outscored San Antonio 60-55, but were outscored 53-39 during the second and fourth quarters. The second was particularly problematic, when they were held to just 16 points.
Buddy Hield and Willie Cauley-Stein carried the offense for the Kings and combined for 46 points. Cauley-Stein had one of his strongest games of the season, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings paced the Spurs from the field and out shot them from behind the arc, but poor free throw shooting doomed them once again. Sacramento made only 64% of their shots from the charity stripe, while San Antonio completed 82% of their shots.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a very strong night for the Spurs, dropping 29 points and 10 rebounds. Pau Gasol secured a triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Rudy Gay only played 17 minutes in his return to Sacramento and struggled with just seven points on 3/8 shooting. Gay is experiencing one of his least productive season’s as a pro with just 12 points and 23 minutes per game.
This marks the first game the Kings have played since De’Aaron Fox was shut down with a partially torn right quad. Fox will be reevaluated in two weeks.
Zach Randolph posted 13 points and six rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 15 points off the bench. Sacramento falls to 11-21 and head south to face off against DeAndre Jordan and the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday.
