The absences of Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis and De’Andre Hunter opened the door for Sacramento Kings coach Doug Christie to do something different in Saturday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Christie moved DeMar DeRozan into LaVine’s place at shooting guard while Keegan Murray slid over to small forward, which the organization believes to be his most natural position.
DeRozan and Murray both played fairly well, but Sacramento’s record losing streak continued with a 139-122 loss to the Spurs before a sellout crowd of 16,168 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
Victor Wembanyama dominated virtually every aspect of the game with 28 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots for the Spurs (40-16), who are second in the Western Conference after winning eight in a row.
Former Kings guard De’Aaron Fox had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five assists for the Spurs, who played in Austin as part of a special two-game “Interstate-35 series.” Stephon Castle and Keldon Johnson also finished with 18 points apiece.
DeRozan and Murray scored 20 points apiece for the Kings (12-46), who extended their franchise-record losing streak to 16 games. LaVine (finger), Sabonis (knee) and Hunter (eye) were out after undergoing season-ending surgical procedures to repair their respective injuries.
Malik Monk came off the bench post 19 points and six assists for Sacramento. Rookie center Maxime Raynaud recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Precious Achiuwa, who started at power forward, scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Spurs raced out to a 16-4 lead over the first four minutes of the contest. San Antonio went up by 15 on a 3-pointer by Champagnie midway through the first quarter, but the Kings outscored the Spurs 21-10 over the final 5:11.
The Kings trailed 35-31 at the end of the first period. They took their first lead of the game on a basket by DeRozan early in the second.
The game was tied with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, but the Kings trailed by five after two quarters, 11 after three and by as many as 28 in the fourth.
Up next
The Kings will visit the Memphis Grizzlies in the second game of a five-game road trip on Monday.
The Kings will go on to visit the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers before returning to Sacramento to face the Phoenix Suns on March 3 at Golden 1 Center.
The Grizzlies (21-34) are coming off a 136-120 loss to the Miami Heat. They have lost five of their last six games. Ja Morant, who hasn’t played since Jan. 21, is out with an elbow injury.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.