Spurs Use Strong Third Quarter to Rally, Beat Kings

The San Antonio Spurs won their second game of the preseason, defeating the Sacramento Kings 106-99. The Spurs were able to overcome a 16 point deficit to grab the win at the AT&T Center in their second home preseason game.

Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Patty Mills, and Tiago Splitter were once again out for the Spurs, registering DNP’s in the final box score.

The Spurs started off slow in the first half, finding themselves trailing by 11 points at the half.

A strong third quarter by San Antonio though was able to cut the margin down to one and eventually provide the spark for the Spurs to beat the Kings. In the third quarter, San Antonio outscored Sacramento 28-18.

The final result was a little surprising considering San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich decided to rest his stars in the fourth quarter, giving extended playing time to Kyle Anderson, Jeff Ayres, Marco Belinelli, Bryce Cotton, and Austin Daye.

The Spurs had six players in double figures with the highest scorer of that group being Jeff Ayres with 15 points. In addition to his scoring output, Ayres also contributed six rebounds. Austin Daye and Kyle Anderson were also fantastic for San Antonio, finishing with 13 and 14 points respectively.

Also helping San Antonio’s cause was the more stable ball control. The Spurs only committed 18 turnovers after struggling mightily with numerous 20-plus turnover games to start the preseason.

The Sacramento Kings were led offensively by DeMarcus Cousins who scored 32 points. The former Kentucky big man also contributed 11 rebounds. The Kings’ fate was ultimately sealed though with their turnover issues with Cousins being the main culprit, committing ten against the Spurs.