Grades: San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings – Game #20
Chris Paul led the Spurs over the Kings (Photo via X)
In one of the most entertaining games of the season, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Sacramento Kings on the road by a final count of 127-125. This was San Antonio’s third road win of the season and improved their record to 11-9. The loss dropped the Kings to 9-12.
Early on, things looked bad for the Spurs. The Kings led by as many as 17 points in the first quarter. Heading into the second period, Sacramento held a 42-28 advantage.
It took the Spurs until the third quarter to close the gap. The rest of the way, it was a back and forth affair. The Spurs got the win by shooting very well from three-point range and executing down the stretch.
Stats: Spurs at Kings
Spurs at Kings – Final Grades
Victor Wembanyama
Wembanyama posted one of the sexier lines of career. Against the Kings, the towering Frenchman had 34 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. To go along with the triple-double, he was 11-for-17 from the field including 5-for-9 from three-point range. As the numbers suggest, Wembanyama was awesome. He was exceptionally efficient shooting the ball; nearly all of his shots were on-balance and smartly conceived. His passing out of the post and when he was on the move was marvelous. Wembanyama was a beast on the boards and a menace on defense. He had issues with turnovers and fouls — and he could have been more physical against smaller defenders — but, otherwise, he was basically perfect.
Grade: A
Chris Paul
Paul’s genius was at full display in Sacramento. During money time, he realized the Kings were switching everything so he made sure San Antonio got mismatches every time up the court. The Kings have a lot of experienced players who thrive in the clutch but Paul made sure the Spurs kept playing a wise brand of basketball. He also knocked down a momentous three-pointer, played rugged defense and limited his mistakes on both sides of the court.
Grade: A-
Harrison Barnes
In his return to Sacramento, Barnes didn’t move the needle a whole lot. He had some crafty slow motion drives to the hoop, rebounded well, passed the ball well and played hard on defense. But Barnes didn’t hit a three-pointer and sometimes looked a step slow on the defensive end. All in all, he wasn’t hurting the team but I’m sure Barnes hoped for a splashier return to his former team.
Grade: B-
Stephon Castle
Yeah, so Castle definitely played like a rookie. He was pretty darn bad in all aspects of the game. Defensively, he wasn’t as disciplined as usual. Offensively, he had some ugly misses from three-point range, he had some unwise shot attempts on the move and lacked physicality in the paint. Castle’s heady passing was missing in action and he was sloppy with the ball.
Grade: D-
Julian Champagnie
Champagnie was actually a very important part of this win. In the first half, when the Spurs appeared to be circling the drain, his offensive production kept the good guys in the ballgame. At halftime, Champagnie had 16 points — mostly due to his 4-for-6 shooting from three-point range. Without that production, the Spurs probably get blown out. Beyond his hot first half shooting, Champagnie continues to show variety to his game by driving to the rim and playing active defense.
Grade: A-
Keldon Johnson
Good stuff from Johnson tonight. Offensively, he was really good. His three-point shooting was on and his physical drives gave the Spurs points when the going got tough. His overall decision-making on offense was commendable. Defense, well, it wasn’t as good. Johnson wasn’t particularly successful in individual matchups, to put it kindly.
Grade: B+
Devin Vassell
While Vassell’s minutes remain limited, he didn’t let that stop him from having a notable impact on the game on Sunday night. His jumper looked beautiful all game long. When he shot it, it always looked like it was going in. Vassell poured in 21 points in 24 minutes and seemed to be ready to produce when the Spurs needed him most. I liked his passing and patience — two areas we haven’t seen much from Vassell this season. His defense needs work but, everywhere else, San Antonio couldn’t have asked for much more out of him in this game.
Grade: A-
Tre Jones
The dark cloud over this win was the shoulder injury suffered by Jones. Let’s hope he doesn’t end up missing many games. Before he was forced to leave the game, Jones was doing pretty awesome. His anticipation on defense was fabulous. He was making 200 IQ play after 200 IQ play. Jones looked legitimately fast and was making a sizable difference during his time on the court. It’s too bad his night ended early because Jones was having his best game of the season — unquestionably.
Grade: A-
Charles Bassey
Oof. Bassey was given an opportunity to win the backup center job — and it ended up being a disaster. He played six first half minutes and couldn’t have been much worse. When he wasn’t fouling, he was out of place on defense or in the way on offense. I liked the idea of giving Bassey a chance but it couldn’t have gone much worse.
Grade: D-
Zach Collins
Collins reclaimed the backup center gig in the second half. He was better than Bassey — but that’s mostly just because he stayed out of the way. Collins needs to play better if he’s going to keep his spot in the rotation.
Grade: C+
Mitch Johnson
The strategy in the fourth quarter was great. I liked how Johnson used Wembanyama all game long. I thought the rotation was fine. Giving Bassey an opportunity was a good move, even though the move backfired. Johnson smartly used timeouts to halt runs by the Kings and admonish his troops when they were playing poorly.
Grade: A-