Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings – Game #63
Devin Vassell almost led the Spurs to a win (Photo via Twitter)
Playing without an injured Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs put up a valiant fight against the Sacramento Kings. Unfortunately, the Spurs couldn’t quite pull out a victory and instead fell to the Kings by a final count of 131-129.
The Spurs played well in the first quarter and led 31-30 at the end of the period. However, in the second quarter, things began to fall apart for the good guys. The Kings scored seemingly every time up the court and took a 71-59 lead into intermission.
Instead of giving up at halftime, the Spurs pressed on without their star rookie. Slowly but surely, San Antonio chipped away and they trailed by only five points heading into the fourth quarter, 100-95. At the start of the fourth, the Spurs really got rolling. In the first four minutes of the quarter, San Antonio outscored Sacramento 21-8 to take an eight-point lead.
Predictably, the Kings didn’t go down without a fight. The Spurs hit a lot of big shots to keep themselves in the ballgame. With a minute remaining, Malaki Branham hit two free throws to give the Spurs a five-point lead, 129-124. Sadly, that was the end of the good news for the Silver and Black. The Kings hit a layup and a three-pointer to tie the game. After a turnover, Domantas Sabonis got a fast break dunk to give Sacramento the lead with seven seconds remaining.
San Antonio’s chances ended when Devin Vassell missed a three-pointer and Jeremy Sochan missed a shot in the lane. All in all, though, the Spurs did well without Wembanyama. A lot of players stepped up and played better than usual.
Stats: Spurs at Kings
Spurs at Kings – Final Grades
Devin Vassell
Playing the role of the first option on offense, Vassell couldn’t have done much better. He scored an efficient 30 points and added nine assists while limiting his mistakes. His shot-selection was good but he also hit a few really difficult shots that the Spurs needed him to shoot. Vassell knocked down his three, got to the free throw line, rebounded well and was very attentive on the defensive end. Especially considering that Wembanyama wasn’t there to absorb some of the attention, this is about as well as we’ve seen Vassell play this season.
Grade: A
Jeremy Sochan
The good: Sochan didn’t back down on defense. Even when one of the talented Kings players scored on him, he was ready to compete on the next defensive possession. That’s the type of mindset he needs if he’s going to eventually turn into a stopper. I also liked Sochan’s work on the boards and the fact that he paid extra attention to protecting the rim without Wembanyama around. Offensively, Sochan had some strong drives to the hoop. The bad: Sochan’s confidence in his three-point shot is so shaky. If he misses a couple, he starts overthinking everything. As a result, it’s difficult to trust him on offense — and the defenses understand that they don’t need to respect his perimeter shot once he starts passing up open looks.
Grade: B-
Zach Collins
Collins got into early foul trouble but bounced back in a big way. Offensively, he was valuable. He knocked down a pair of three-pointers and proved to be a reliable post up threat. His combination of power and touch was useful. Collins also dropped off a couple of high-level dimes, and he deserves applause for turning it over only once in 30 minutes and eventually working his way out of foul trouble. Collins could have been sturdier in the rebounding department and could have defended the hoop better — but, overall, this is one of his better outings as of late.
Grade: A-
Tre Jones
Talk about a strange outing — Jones lived at the extremes in Sacramento. Passing-wise, he was excellent. He was making plays and making life easier for his teammates with pinpoint passes. He finished with 12 assists in only 24 minutes. He was also legitimately very useful on the boards and in loose ball situations. Unfortunately, Jones wasn’t a threat offensively at all. It’s hard to be an impactful guard these days when you barely look at the hoop. One field goal attempt in 24 minutes doesn’t cut it. Defensively, his lack of size was definitely noticeable and the Kings took advantage.
Grade: B
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie continues to not look right since injuring his ankle. His defense has been a lot worse and his already limited athleticism is a step slower, which makes scoring the basketball a tall challenge. But, hey, Champagnie hit four free throws against the Kings — so I guess that counts for something.
Grade: D
Keldon Johnson
Good stuff from Johnson. His smart brand of basketball resulted in him hitting 4-of-11 three-pointers and 5-of-6 two-pointers. A few more hard-headed drives to the lane could have resulted in free throw attempts — but I didn’t have a problem with his shot-selection. Johnson’s passing was a plus, he kept his miscues to a minimum and he played defense at an acceptable level. This was the type of outing the coaches were imagining when they moved Johnson to the bench.
Grade: A-
Malaki Branham
No one say it out loud for fear of jinxing it but it’s beginning to look like Branham has figured out the NBA three-point line. In his last nine games, Branham is 23-for-40 (57.5%) from three-point range. He needs to become an above average three-point shooter to make it in the NBA so this is a great development. Other than draining threes against the Kings, Branham helped the cause with his passing and by hitting all six of his free throws. Unfortunately, he was only 1-for-6 from two-point range and led the team with three turnovers — including the game-losing turnover that Sabonis turned into a dunk. That said, the Spurs wouldn’t have been in the game without Branham’s marksmanship from deep.
Grade: B+
Blake Wesley
A lot more positives for Wesley. Against the Kings, I really liked his decision-making on offense. He picked the right shots, authored the correct passes and smartly pushed the pace. Wesley has made a lot of huge strides in terms of learning how to play the point guard position. On the other end of the court, he was all over the court on defense. His man-to-man defense was rock solid and his playing of the passing lanes was disruptive.
Grade: A-
Dominick Barlow
Barlow moved well on both ends of the court. That said, he slowed by foul trouble and moments of indecision. Barlow hadn’t played in an NBA game since Feb. 10, so it was understandable that there was a bit of rust.
Grade: C+
Cedi Osman
Osman played only six minutes in Sacramento. He played with a lot of energy but the coaches went to other options off the bench.
Grade: C+
Sandro Mamukelashvili
With Collins and Barlow in foul trouble, Mamukelashvili got a few meaningful minutes. He was his typical rambunctious self.
Grade: Inc.
Pop
Pop’s play-calling was fine. Getting a win on the road against a good team without Wembanyama would have been impressive. However, Pop hurt the chances by forcing Branham to play too many minutes at point guard. Jones or Wesley would have been fine point guard choices. Branham was on fire from three-point territory but that doesn’t mean he should be getting point guard minutes. That coaching decision played a starring role in the late fourth quarter collapse.
Grade: D+