Kings Looking for Fifth Straight Win in Road Game with the Spurs

Mon, Mar 29, 2021
By Jim Vassallo (Veri.bet Writer)

The Sacramento Kings (21-25, 9-13 away) bring a four-game win streak into their contest tonight at the San Antonio Spurs (23-20, 11-13 home) on Monday, March 29, at 8:30 PM ET.

On top of winning their last four games, the Kings have played to a 7-3 record in their last 10 overall. They still haven’t climbed out of the basement of the Pacific Division but they are getting closer to leapfrogging the Golden State Warriors in the standings.

Buddy Hield has been the offensive threat for the Kings this season, averaging 4.0 3-pointers per game and 16.6 points per game.

In their last outing, the Kings took down the Cleveland Cavaliers 100-98. Harrison Barnes nailed a 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to secure the win for the Kings.

"Big-time catch-and-shoot by Harrison," Kings coach Luke Walton said. "He kept his composure. He had enough time on the clock. He was nice, calm, and relaxed and made the shot."

De’Aaron Fox dropped 36 points for the Kings, 20 of them in the fourth quarter. Fox had six assists in the game, but the biggest was his heave pass to Barnes prior to the winning shot.

"It was a great pass by Fox," Barnes said. "He put the ball right in the spot where I was able to turn and get a look. Luckily it dropped."

The Spurs snapped a four-game losing streak with a 120-104 win over the Chicago Bulls the last time they hit the court.

In the win, Jakob Poeltl scored 20 points and DeMar DeRozan had 17. The win was the 1,300th of Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich’s career. He is the fastest in league history to the milestone.

"Shoutout to Coach Pop, future Hall of Famer," San Antonio point guard Dejounte Murray said. "I'm just thankful to know him as a person, to be coached by him. We are going to try to continue to get him as many wins as we can."

The Spurs desperately needed this win after suffering back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Clippers earlier in the week, including a 134-101 blowout.

"We haven't been great on offense the past couple of games," Poeltl said. "We've been playing slow, so we just wanted to come out and be aggressive. Everybody did their part. We were sharing the ball and I think that's the best way to play ball and it's a lot of fun."

The injury list for both teams is small, but includes the following players:

Marquese Chriss (SA) out for season (leg)
Lonnie Walker IV (SA) out (wrist)
Keita Bates-Diop (SA) out (hamstring)
Jahmi'us Ramsey (SAC) out (hamstring)
Marvin Bagley III (SAC) out (hand)

Even though the Kings are riding a four-game win streak, they are still 10.5 games out of first in the Pacific Division. The Spurs lead the Southwest Division by a half-game over the Dallas Mavericks. Your money is best spent tonight on the Spurs at home with the -2.5 spread.