The Sacramento Kings’ preseason ended the same way it had been going for most of the month: outmanned early, trying to dig out of a hole, and coming up short anyway.
On Friday night in San Antonio, the Kings fell 126-97 to the Spurs to finish 0-5 in exhibition play. It was Sacramento’s first chance to roll out Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray, Ben Simmons, and Domantas Sabonis together in the starting group, but that look barely had time to settle in before the Spurs seized control and kept it.
San Antonio set the tone immediately and never really loosened its grip. The margin got as large as 37, and the Spurs’ advantages showed up everywhere that mattered: on the glass, from deep, and in the paint. They owned the rebounding battle 61-38, pulled down 19 offensive boards, and buried 17 three-pointers while Sacramento managed just three.
LaVine paced the Kings with 20 points. Simmons turned in one of the cleaner all-around lines of the night with 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in his second preseason appearance. Sabonis added 14 points and 10 rebounds, Acuff scored 13, and Precious Achiuwa chipped in 13 off the bench.
But the real story was the start, or lack of one.
Victor Wembanyama came out looking every bit like the tone-setter for San Antonio. Sacramento tried to make life physical for him, with Sabonis doing his part, but the reigning Defensive Player of the Year erased an early self-lob off the backboard in transition and made the Spurs look comfortable from the jump.
The opening quarter told the story fast. San Antonio shot 15/26 from the floor and 6/14 from three, while the Kings went just 6/24 overall. The Spurs had the edge in nearly every box-score category that mattered, and former King De’Aaron Fox was part of the early damage, scoring 10 points in the first quarter as San Antonio raced out to control.
By halftime, the game was already buried under a 42-18 Spurs lead. The second quarter only made the gap uglier, with San Antonio outscoring Sacramento 29-19 and stretching the margin to 37 before taking a 71-37 lead into the break.
Fox had 16 points at halftime, and Wembanyama had 14 points and nine rebounds. Sacramento’s rookie Acuff struggled to find a rhythm early, going 2/8 from the field, while LaVine was the only King with much traction, putting up eight points in the first half.
The Kings’ first-half numbers were rough across the board. They shot 13/41 from the field and committed 11 turnovers, which San Antonio turned into 22 points.
The third quarter finally gave Sacramento something to build on. Acuff didn’t come back out after the break, with fellow rookie Emaneul Sharp taking his spot, and the Kings’ offense settled in once Wembanyama was no longer anchoring the Spurs’ defense. With Luke Kornet replacing him, driving lanes opened up and Sacramento started attacking the rim more cleanly.
That was the best stretch of the night for the Kings, and Simmons was at the center of it as the primary point guard without Acuff. After scoring just two points in the first half, Simmons poured in 12 in the third and added five assists. LaVine scored 12 in the period, Sabonis added nine, and that trio accounted for 33 of Sacramento’s 35 points in the frame.
Still, the hole was too deep. Sacramento entered the fourth quarter down 101-72, and the final period mostly belonged to the deeper bench units. The teams played the last 12 minutes evenly, but the Kings never got close enough to threaten.
Sharp stood out on the defensive end with five steals in 24 minutes, and Achiuwa made the most of his minutes by going 6/7 from the field for his 13 points.
San Antonio had six players reach double figures, led by Dylan Harper’s 19 points. Fox finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists against his old team, while Wembanyama posted 14 points and eight rebounds.
For Sacramento, the concerns were familiar. The start was flat, the three-point shooting was poor, and the rebounding gap was overwhelming. The Kings shot just 6/25 from beyond the arc, a problem that lingered from last season and showed up again in the preseason finale.
When the dust settled, the 126-97 loss left Sacramento winless in the preseason and still searching for cleaner starts before the games start to count.
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