After defensive lapses in loss to Kings, hopes for a rebound in Phoenix.
Young, athletic Kings took advantage of frequent lapses
PHOENIX — In his first game back after missing three outings with a sore right heel, Rudy Gay came within a rebound of posting a double-double in the Spurs’ 10499 loss to the Kings on Monday night in Sacramento.
“I felt good,” Gay said, referring to his foot. “(But) I don’t know if it was the (poor) air quality (from the fire raging in Northern California) or me sitting out, but I was a little out of breath.”
Another possible explanation: Gay, along with his teammates, were winded from trying to keep
up with the young, athletic Kings.
“They made it tough on us,” said Gay, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. “They moved the ball, scored in transition, and they got back on defense. …This is one of those teams that exposes (your defensive weaknesses). They play so free.”
Pushing the pace all night while taking advantage of numerous defensive lapses by the Spurs, Sacramento shot 50 percent from the field (43 of 86) and 45.8 percent from 3-point range (11 of 24). They also outscored the Spurs 20-9 in transition and scored 16 points off 15 turnovers.
“We made a lot of mistakes defensively, but it’s a game of mis-
takes,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “(Sacramento) made fewer than we did. They shot the ball better. Their aggressiveness was great. They did a great job.
“But overall if they shoot (45 percent) from 3 and we shoot 32 percent (10 of 31), we’re going to have a hard time, which means you have to be really good on the defensive end, and we made too many mistakes.”
Six players scored at least 11 points for the Kings, including a team-high 22 off the bench from Bogdan Bogdanovic, as they snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Spurs and improved to 8-6.
“I was impressed,” Popovich said of Sacramento. “Their culture has changed drastically. Guys are committed, guys are physical, taking some pride in defense.”
The same couldn’t be said of the Spurs, who fell to 7-5, including 2-3 on the road, by losing the opener
of their three-game West road trip. Dating back to last season and including a first-round playoff series against Golden State, they’ve lost 18 of their past 21 road games.
One of the three wins in those games came against the Suns, a 120-90 rout on Oct. 31. Tonight the Spurs are back in Phoenix, facing a 2-11 Suns team that has lost four in a row.
The Sacramento loss “sucks, but hey, got to move on from it and bounce back,” DeMar DeRozan said. “We’ve got a game in Phoenix, and we have to understand it’s early in the season and that we got to keep stepping up, and also understand what we got to do to close out these games, especially on the road.”
The Spurs tied the score at 9090 on a turnaround jumper by LaMarcus Aldridge with 5:11 left, but the Kings went on a 10-0 run in which they held the Spurs scoreless for more than four minutes.
Aldridge, who faced doubleteams all night, helped the Kings’ sprint to the finish line by committing
two turnovers, one of which the Kings converted into an alleyoop dunk by Willie Cauley-Stein.
“I wouldn’t say it was the double-teams, but I had two crucial turnovers late in the game, which I can’t have,” Aldridge said. “One I rushed. Then the second one, (the defender) just hit my wrist and threw me off balance and I lost the dribble.”
DeRozan led the Spurs with 23 points and eight assists but committed four turnovers. Aldridge posted his team-high sixth doubledouble with 14 points and 18 rebounds but also committed four turnovers.
All but one of Sacramento’s starters finished in double figures, including Fox with 19 points on 7of-9 shooting, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. He also had seven assists. The Kings bench also came up big, outscoring the Spurs reserves 45-32.
Besides Bogdanovic, who is still rounding into shape after missing the first 10 games with a knee injury, the Spurs had their hands full