San Antonio vs. Sacramento, final score: Wembanyama shines in 116-96 win

On By Littum

After losing a tough battle against Utah Jazz Over the weekend, the San Antonio Spurs looked to start the new week off on the right foot. With the Sacramento Kings on the line in the second game of a back-to-back, the Spurs capitalized on a dominant 116-96 win.

Victor Wembanyama had one of his best games of the season with 34 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks. He was a deterrent all night in the paint, bothering shot after shot and making the Kings “no” right out of shots at the rim. Offensively, he was on fire, shooting 13-22 from the field and 6-12 from deep.

Wembanyama’s defensive effort was infectious. San Antonio’s defense stifled Sacramento as the Kings shot 42.9% from the field and 27% from deep. The Spurs turned the ball over 18 times, allowing the Kings to score 26 points on their mistakes, but they made up for it with a hot shooting night. San Antonio shot 50.6% from the field and 47.8% from three.

Spurs will face a pair of French phenoms in Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr when Washington Wizards came to town on Wednesday the 13th.

Observations

  • Stephon Castle looks more and more comfortable with the NBA by the day. On Monday, he had 10 points, 6 assists and a steal. He looks strong and confident when he gets to the basket and starts hitting enough threes to make defenses respect him out there. His poise as a rookie shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched him UCONN last season, but is still pretty rare for a first-year player.
  • Wembanyama has made 6 three-pointers in his last two games. He generally shoots the ball better in San Antonio than on the road. Wemby is shooting 47.3% from the field and 37.5% from deep at home, while shooting 38% from the field and 20.5% from three on the road.
  • Devin Vassell appears to be on a minute restriction. He was subbed out late in the fourth quarter after playing 21 minutes, the same amount he played in his debut against Utah. Vassell had a hot stretch in the third quarter that propelled him to 12 points, including three deep balls.
  • Sandro Mamukelashvili has provided a spark and some shots off the bench. He had 9 points, all from deep, in his 16 minutes. He held his own defensively with some timely rotations and a few good isolation possessions against the Kings’ wings.
  • Julian Champagnie played his 100th game for Spurs on Monday. He has now most three-pointers in his first 100 games, with 159, more than any undrafted player in Spurs history. Gary Neal previously held the record with 153.
  • Chris Paul finished with 12 points and 11 assists in the win. It’s his 4th point-assist double-double on age 39 or older. John Stockton holds the record with 37 such games.