Kings go cold in loss to San Antonio Spurs, end streak
The Kings have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past two weeks, but they went cold Wednesday night in San Antonio.
De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes all struggled to make shots as Sacramento’s five-game winning streak ended with a 120-106 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center.
DeMar DeRozan had 26 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Spurs (24-21), who got a measure of revenge after suffering a 132-115 loss to the Kings on Monday. Derrick White had 18 points, Rudy Gay came off the bench to post 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jakob Poeltl finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Fox scored 20 points to lead the Kings (2226), but he made just 7 of 18 from the field and 1 of 5 from 3-point range. Hield was held to 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting, including 4of-12 shooting from 3-point range. Barnes had a career-high 14 rebounds, but he scored only six points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Rookie Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points and Delon Wright came off the bench to add 16, but the Kings shot 41.8% from the field and made just 11 of 35 (.314) from 3-point range.
“I just feel like we kind of let ourselves missing shots kind of dictate the flow of the rest of the game,” Holmes said. “That’s something we can’t have.”
Going streaking — Sacramento’s fivegame winning streak was its longest since the 2018-19 season. The Kings missed an opportunity to match their longest winning streak since Jan. 11-20, 2005.
That 2004-05 team was led by coach Rick Adelman and a core that consisted of Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie, Brad Miller and Cuttino Mobley. Webber was traded to the
Philadelphia 76ers about a month after that winning streak ended. Despite his departure, the Kings went on to win 50 games and made the seventh of their eight consecutive playoff appearances under Adelman.
The Kings will come home to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Golden 1 Center.
The Lakers (30-17) will be without superstars LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (calf). James and Davis were also out when the Kings beat the Lakers 123-120 on March 3 in Sacramento. Hield scored 29 points in that game, making 11 of 15 from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
Los Angeles will have new big man Andre Drummond, who made his Lakers debut Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. Drummond signed with the Lakers on Sunday after agreeing to a buyout with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Drummond averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in 25 games for the Cavaliers this season.