Tides turning: Contending Kings blow out rebuilding Spurs

Harrison Barnes scored 29 points on 8-of-11 shooting and Domantas Sabonis added 18 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists as the visiting Sacramento Kings defeated the reeling San Antonio Spurs 132-119 on Sunday (Monday, January 16, Manila time).

The Kings trailed by a point a halftime but gained control in a dominating third quarter after which they led by a dozen and never allowed San Antonio to get closer than four points in the final period.

Sacramento has won four straight while the Spurs have dropped five consecutive games and eight of their past nine.

De’Aaron Fox added 23 points for the Kings, with Davion Mitchell tallying 19 off the bench and Keegan Murray and Trey Lyles hitting for 12 each.

Jakob Poeltl led the Spurs with 23 points while Josh Richardson added 21. Keldon Johnson scored 20, Tre Jones hit for 16 points and Jeremy Sochan 15.

The first quarter featured a 13-point swing, six lead changes and four ties before the Kings secured a 33-32 lead at the end of the period. Barnes had 10 of Sacramento’s points while Poeltl and Jones had eight points each for the Spurs.

The contest continued to go back-and-forth throughout the second quarter, with nine additional lead changes and neither team up by more than six points. Fox’s runner with 0.6 seconds left brought the Kings to within 64-63 at the break.

Poeltl led the Spurs with 16 points in the half by hitting all seven of his shots from the floor. Jones added 14 for San Antonio and Richardson tallied 10 off the bench as the Spurs shot 63.6 percent on their field goals.

Barnes paced the Kings with 15 points by halftime, with Sabonis adding 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Sacramento took charge in the third quarter, going in front for good on a dunk by Sabonis at the 9:05 mark and expanding its advantage to 14 points on a Barnes three-point play with 1:32 to play in the period. The Kings led 102-90 when Richardson scored on a finger roll with 1.9 to play. – Rappler.com