Victor Wembanyama scored 20 of his 30 points in a runaway first half, Stephon Castle added 19 points and the visiting San Antonio Spurs won their seventh straight game Friday night, defeating the Sacramento Kings 124-109 in each team’s opening game of the NBA Cup.
Coming off a 52-point, 24-rebound explosion in a one-point home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Wembanyama recorded his seventh double-double of the season with a game-high 14 rebounds in just 26 minutes.
Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. scored 22 points and dished out eight assists, while Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for the Kings, who lost for the eighth time in nine games this season.
After the Kings took a 20-18 lead, the Spurs took charge for good by scoring 20 points in the final 4:59 of the first quarter. Castle and Dylan Harper had three-point plays during the run before Wembanyama scored the team’s final eight points of the period, including an alley-oop dunk in the final seconds to give San Antonio a 38-29 advantage.
The Spurs led 75-56 at halftime, with Wembanyama having made seven of his nine shots. San Antonio shot 25-for-42 (59.5%) overall and 10-for-16 (62.5%) from 3-point range in the first half.
The Kings, playing the second game of a seven-game homestand, got no closer than 12 points over the final 24 minutes.
Wembanyama made four of six shots from beyond the arc after entering the game just 12-for-50 (24.0%) from 3-point range. He also had two blocks.
Harper and Devin Vassell joined Castle with 19 points apiece for the Spurs, who are competing in West Group C of the NBA Cup along with the Kings, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
Acuff recorded the seventh 20-point game of his rookie season. He shot 9-for-20 and also had a game-high eight assists and two steals.
Zach LaVine had 14 points, while Leaky Black and Malik Monk scored 12 each for Sacramento, which lost by double digits for the seventh time this season.
–Field Level Media
