Shorthanded Spurs The Spurs entered the second game of their three-game homestand looking for their first win of the week after losing two games in Phoenix and last night against the Bulls. Without Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones, they faced a tall task against the Sacramento Kings, and although the Spurs initially got off to a strong start, they couldn’t sustain it, and the Kings ultimately pulled away on the back of a losing night on three-point shooting .

The first half of the first quarter was the best phase of the game for the Spurs. Julian Champagnie hit three of his first four three-pointers and scored the first 11 points of the game for the Spurs. Keldon Johnson also quickly came into the game off the bench with 10 points and helped extend the lead to 13 points. Overall, the energy and defensive effort was much higher than in the last few games, but after Chris Paul was substituted, the offense stagnated and the Kings finished the first quarter with a 14-1 run and were at 33 apiece.

That run extended into the start of the second quarter, with the Kings scoring the first four points before another Champagnie three-pointer broke the ice for the Spurs. Unfortunately, things went wrong after Collins picked up his third foul and was sent off for talking too much on the way to the bench (and then making sure he got his money’s worth with a particular hand gesture). The Kings found themselves in the bonus with 6:32 left in the half and had a lead of 12. The Spurs rallied a bit to keep things from getting worse, but they still couldn’t get enough stops to go into the game Halftime deficit 59-67.

There was still hope as they started the third quarter with more focus and got within three points at 77-74, but that would be the last serious threat the Spurs posed for the rest of the evening. The Kings responded and extended the lead back to 18, capitalizing on every little mistake. The Spurs’ bench, which outscored the Kings 48-34 that night, made another small attempt to keep the game from getting too out of control, and they entered the fourth quarter trailing 86-100, but that was hard Imagine if they had the firepower to come all the way back.

In fact, the fourth quarter was more of the same, with the lead hovering between 14 and 20 most of the time and the Kings having an answer for every positive play the Spurs made. They got everything they wanted from deep, and that in turn opened up three-point shooting for a team that has struggled mightily from that distance all season. They ended up with a 16-34 record on the night, with Keegan Murray, Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter all scoring three goals or more, and even the Kings’ third string couldn’t miss as they edged ahead in arduous time against the Spurs their third hit in a straight loss, 113-140, and they fall back under .500.

Game notes

• With Wembanyama unable to play due to his back still being sore during the warm-up, Spurs changed things up from the last game and used Collins in place of Jeremy Sochan in the middle. The move made sense when they were facing one of the better centers around the rim in Domantas Sabonis. Unfortunately, with Collins out, the Spurs had no answer for him and he finished the game with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili struggled on both sides of the field, and the lack of an inside game made life more difficult for the rest of the offense.
• Champagnie was a rare bright spot for the Spurs in this game, as he made a career-high six three-pointers and scored 30 points – a performance that put him in the rare company of Jaren Jackson and Gary Neal, the only unseeded Spurs to do so than made 6 three-pointers and scored 25 points in a game. Chris Paul also had a solid night with 11 points, 13 assists and 8 rebounds, and as poorly as the Spurs played most of the night, it actually makes sense that he had a positive boxscore plus/minus (+1). The offense flowed when he was out there and not when he wasn’t there, just like that.
• Harrison Barnes’ points tally has fallen sharply since he was named Player of the Week, with three straight 20-point games a few weeks ago and a big reason why Spurs were able to navigate their latest stint without Wemby. Since then, he has scored single-digit points in five of the last six games, and the Spurs have been missing another offensive force to help them keep up while the defense has struggled without its leader. The Spurs needed every player to play in their last two home games against beatable teams, but not enough players were willing to do so.

Game play

Honestly, no particular play stands out from this game, so I’m going from Stephon Castle to Jeremy Sochan. We’ve seen the chemistry build between Castle and Wemby, so it’s good to see him doing the same with another suspected core member of the future Spurs.

Next up: Sunday vs. New Orleans Pelicans