Spurs beatdown from revenge-thirsty Kings worsened by one frustrating thing

The Spurs played one of their weirdest games last night in the Golden 1 Center. It went from exciting to frustrating fairly quickly, and once the frustration set in, it never subsided. San Antonio fell behind after a dismal second quarter when they were outscored 36-16 and never recovered.

It's not the first time they've collapsed on one side of the ball or both, and it won't be the last, but the circumstances surrounding De'Aaron Fox's first trip back to Sacramento made the game more important. The Kings came out playing with their hair on fire. It was predictable. The Silver and Black should have been ready to match that energy, but they failed again, and it's not a good look.

Spurs looked overwhelmed by Sacramento's tenacity

After the game, Fox made it clear that the "emotions" of the night weren't a factor for him. "I haven't made a shot in two weeks," he laughed. When asked about if he had thought about the reunion in California with his old team in the weeks leading up to it, he smirked and said he hadn't thought about it at all.

Swipa has been a stand-up guy for his entire career, so if he says he had no complicated feelings that led to his bad shooting night, he deserves the benefit of the doubt. However, there's no escaping the atmosphere the fans created and the energy the ex-teammates played with. You could tell they really wanted to win that game, playing with unbridled energy from the jump.

They swarmed him for most of the night, almost as if to say, "We're not letting you beat us tonight." He went 6/17 from the floor, so they were right. But that's when you expect the others to rise to the occasion to show out and lift their guy up in a hostile environment. Stephon Castle (10-17 FG) was the only one who showed the dog necessary to combat that type of hostility.

Keldon Johnson had a strong showing offensively (4-8 FG) but didn't get enough shots. Devin Vassell is coming off a career night, so fans hoped the vibes would carry over into enemy territory. He needed to be ready to go scorched Earth to back up his new teammate. Instead, Vassell dropped 10 points on 4/13 FG and 2/8 3PT—not exactly what we were looking for.

That doesn't even mention the defense. They played with a lack of physicality, and the effort came nowhere near matching the intensity with which the Kings played. In the second quarter, which blew the game open, SAC attempted 27 field goal attempts, compared to 18 for the Spurs. You would think it's because the team was turning the ball over, but it was just due to their effort on the boards.

San Antonio gave up seven offensive rebounds in the second quarter alone and 17 total rebounds. They have five. Poor effort isn't something this team should still be having conversations about, especially considering the circumstances. The losing is less of a problem than the fight, or lack thereof, for 48 minutes. That just shouldn't be a thing anymore, yet here we are.