Victor Wembanyama scored 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 116-96 on Monday night.
The Kings were playing the second game of a back-to-back and struggled in the second half, getting outscored by San Antonio 56-41.
The Spurs started the second half with a strong run, increasing their five-point halftime lead to 13 points. Sacramento couldn’t make a comeback, and even though the Spurs had a comfortable lead, both teams played their starters into the final minutes. Wembanyama finished his great performance with a putback dunk with 58 seconds left.
Wembanyama was 13 of 22 from the field, including 6 of 12 from three-point range, and made both of his free throws. He also had six assists, three blocks, and one steal.
Julian Champagnie added 13 points for San Antonio, while Devin Vassell and Chris Paul each scored 12 points. Keldon Johnson finished with 11 points, and Harrison Barnes and Stephon Castle scored 10 points each. Paul also had 11 assists in the win.
For the Kings, De’Aaron Fox led with 24 points, Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan added 21 points. Malik Monk, a key player off the bench, didn’t play after injuring his right ankle in an overtime win against Phoenix on Sunday.
The Spurs took a five-point lead midway through the first quarter after a three-pointer by Castle, but Sacramento responded, briefly taking the lead at 21-20 when Sabonis scored a layup with just under three minutes left. The Kings ended the first quarter with a 26-22 lead.
Sacramento stretched their lead to nine points early in the second quarter, but the Spurs fought back. They took the lead at 37-36 when Wembanyama made a three-pointer with 7:38 remaining. The game went back and forth for the rest of the half, but San Antonio finished strong with a 5-0 run to take a 60-55 lead into halftime.
Wembanyama led all scorers at halftime with 16 points, while Barnes had 10 for the Spurs. Sabonis had 12 points for Sacramento, and DeRozan added 11.
San Antonio led by four points early in the third quarter and then went on a 10-0 run, capped by a layup from Champagnie with 6:40 left. Wembanyama added a driving layup with 57 seconds left to give the Spurs an 84-71 lead going into the fourth quarter.
