What we learned as the Kings lost to the Spurs and fell to sixth place in seven games originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – Domantas Sabonis turns 18^Th Back-to-back double-doubles, but it wasn’t enough to pull the Kings out of their recent slump as they lost 127-125 to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday at the Golden 1 Center.

Sabonis had 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in another outstanding performance while spending much of his night defending San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama.

Malik Monk had 19 points in his first start since the final game of the 2021-22 season when he was with the Los Angeles Lakers. Monk, who was runner-up for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists.

De’Aaron Fox added 23 points and nine assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points. Isaac Jones had 12 points.

The Kings led most of the night until the Spurs turned things around in the fourth quarter and built a 121-116 lead. Fox and Chris Paul exchanged 3-pointers before Monk’s 3-pointer put the Kings up 124-122 with 11.8 seconds left.

Keldon Johnson made one of two free throws two seconds later, but San Antonio grabbed the rebound. Chris Paul was fouled and made both free throws to secure the win for San Antonio. A Sabonis 3-pointer at the buzzer provided the final points.

The Kings (9-12) have lost six of seven games.

The Kings controlled the first half and led by 17 before the Spurs had their best performance of the night, taking a 79-77 lead in the third quarter. After Fox made a floater and served Monk with a long alley-oop to put Sacramento back in the lead, the final quarter saw a back-and-forth between the two teams.

Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:

Fast and angry at first

The Kings continued their recent trend of solid starts, scoring a season-high 42 points in the first quarter despite Wembanyama’s looming presence in the closing stages.

Sacramento, led by DeRozan’s 12 points, came out of the game building a 17-point lead to set the pace. Seven players had at least four points in the opening stanza. As a team, the Kings shot 17 of 24 (70.8 percent) in the first quarter, with five of the seven missed shots coming from behind the arc.

They were crispy too. A team that has struggled to keep the ball all season turned it over just once in the first quarter.

bThe game of the big ones

Sabonis had another strong game in his biannual showdown against the Spurs’ 7-foot-3 tower Wembanyama. That’s four in four games since Wemby entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, although the Spurs big man didn’t appear in any of the four games.

Sabonis, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds against San Antonio on Nov. 11, was comfortable with the distributor role early and could have had an even better night Sunday if he had been more effective under the basket. In the first half alone he had seven offensive boards, but repeatedly failed in his put-back attempts.

For his part, Wembanyama put up pretty solid stats: 34 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and three blocks. He also made a four-point play in the first half.

DeMars return

The Kings have a different vibe when DeRozan is on the court, and it was great to get him back in the lineup after a two-game absence due to back pain.

It wasn’t just the scoring. DeRozan’s ability to read defenses is tremendous, and he did a great job facilitating and moving the ball.

Defensively, DeRozan was sharp. He had three steals and eight assists. He also picked up an offensive foul after taking a Wembanya elbow to the chin in the second quarter.

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