Kings at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs will try to run their home record to an even 30-0 when they host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. The historic success of the Golden State Warriors has allowed the Spurs to stay under the radar a bit, but their latest winning streak is at seven straight and they sit only 3 1/2 games behind the Warriors in the Western Conference standings.
San Antonio has played at home only once since Feb. 6 and rolled past the Detroit Pistons 97-81 on Wednesday in that return to their building. The Spurs nearly fell at New Orleans the next night but ended the game on a 12-0 run to pull out the 94-86 triumph behind 30 points and 11 rebounds from star forward Kawhi Leonard. The Kings have lost in their last six trips to San Antonio but snapped a four-game slide by ending a lengthy drought in Dallas with a 104-101 win on Thursday. The victory is the latest indication that Sacramento intends to remain on the fringes of the postseason, and the Kings head into the weekend 4 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Houston Rockets in the West.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE KINGS (25-35): Sacramento shot 52.5 percent from floor against the Mavericks but was quick to credit its defensive improvement for the victory. “It’s been a problem for us all season,” All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins told reporters of the team’s defensive inconsistency. “I’d probably say this is our best defensive game all season. It’s all about remaining consistent with what’s winning games for us, and that’s defense.” The Kings weren’t as strong on the defensive end on Feb. 24 at home against San Antonio, when they let the Spurs shoot 51.8 percent from the field in a 108-92 loss.
ABOUT THE SPURS (52-9): Leonard posted his first career 30-point, 10-rebound performance on Thursday and is riding a hot streak of late by averaging 28.3 points in the last four contests. San Antonio still has Tony Parker and Tim Duncan around to provide stability, but it was Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge on Thursday taking over down the stretch. Aldridge and Leonard combined for 56 points in the win and each played 35 or more minutes, while Duncan and Parker totaled nine points and each played fewer than 25 minutes.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings F Rudy Gay (shoulder) returned from a two-game absence on Thursday and scored nine points in 36 minutes.
2. Spurs G Manu Ginobili (groin) has been out since Feb. 3 but could return on Saturday.
3. San Antonio has taken five straight in the series and won the first two this season by an average of 17 points.