Kings at Spurs
The Sacramento Kings are fresh off beating one of the NBA’s top teams and look to slay another when they visit the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Sacramento rallied late in regulation and then dominated the overtime while defeating the Miami Heat on Friday, but surprising the Spurs figures to be a difficult task. San Antonio has won 23 of the last 25 meetings, including the last two on its home floor.
The Spurs have the third-best record in the Western Conference despite going 4-3 over the last seven games. San Antonio has experienced too many defensive breakdowns and is allowing 106.9 points during the stretch. The Kings are getting consistently stellar efforts from center DeMarcus Cousins and guard Isaiah Thomas and are still integrating recently acquired small forward Rudy Gay into the attack. Gay is averaging 18.8 points and has scored 20 or more in five of his eight games since being acquired from Toronto.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE KINGS (9-19): Sacramento received standout outings from the trio of Cousins (27 points, 17 rebounds), Gay (26 points) and Thomas (21 points, 11 assists) in the victory over the Heat. The Kings controlled the interior behind Cousins with a 51-35 rebounding advantage and a 60-38 edge in points in the paint. Cousins has scored 20 or more points in 12 of his last 14 outings while Thomas has 20 or more in 10 of the last 13 games. Sacramento is just 3-8 on the road as it attempts to pull off another shocker.
ABOUT THE SPURS (23-7): Guard Danny Green temporarily emerged from his slumber to score 22 points on 7-of-7 shooting in Thursday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Green made all five of his 3-pointers while producing his second-best scoring output of the season. He had scored in double digits in just four of the previous 16 games before the standout performance. “They just kept finding me when I was open,” Green said afterward. “It got easier when we got some stops and steals and in transition. That’s how I get most of my open looks.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. San Antonio swept all four meetings last season and has won the last six against the Kings.
2. Spurs F Tim Duncan has nine straight double-digit outings on the boards and is averaging 12.8 during the stretch.
3. Thomas has made at least one 3-pointer in 22 consecutive games, tied for fourth-longest streak in franchise history.