Game 11: Spurs 116, Kings 96

(1) What went right? (2) Wemby (3) Chris Paul (4) Scoring depth from Stephon Castle, Harrison Barnes, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Mamu

Monday’s matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings was going to be a test of different shot diets.

The Spurs have been taking more and more of their shots from beyond the arc this season, while the Kings have been a mid-range heavy team, after adding DeMar DeRozan over the summer, while still having De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis on the team.

When 48 minutes were over, it was the 3-point bombing Spurs who won the battle from distance by 36 points, 66-30, which gave them enough of a lead to win by 20 points. The Kings won the 2-point battle by 14 points and free throw line by 2 points, but that wasn’t enough to overcome the Spurs’ substantial lead from distance.

The Kings kept the game close in the first half, but in the second half, San Antonio really took control, and it was tough for Sacramento to battle back since they were on the second night of a back-to-back, plus their shot selection made it difficult as well.

“When you’ve done the work and played the right way to get the lead, how do you maintain it,” said Harrison Barnes after the game of the Spurs not wanting to let their double digit lead slip away in the fourth quarter.

“We talked all game long about that team, their expectations and aspirations of the season, and we’ve got to believe ourselves,” said Chris Paul after the game. “We’ve got to go into every game expecting to win, and I think we’re starting to build that.”

With the win, the Spurs improved to 5-6 overall and 4-2 at home. The Spurs opened up their 4th 20-point lead of the season, moving them to 3-1 when leading by 20 in a game this season.

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(1) What went right?

Four factors from CleaningTheGlass.com

• Shooting - The Spurs made a new season season high 22 threes in the win, and they shot a new season best 48% from beyond the arc. The Spurs shot 51% on arc threes, which is a further, more difficult three to make in the NBA. The Spurs improved to 4-2 when winning the 3-point line.

• Ball movement - The Spurs tallied 31 assists as a team and they assisted on 43 of their made shots (72% assist percentage). Turnovers were still an issue, with the team turing the ball over 18 times. 12 of the Spurs’ turnovers took place in the first half, and with better ball security in the second half, the Spurs were able to open the big lead on the Kings.

“I thought we had a lot of self inflicted mistakes in the first half,” said Spurs Acting Head Coach Mitch Johnson after the game. “I thought we had a lot of offensive spacing and opportunities, and those opportunities, probably good shot attempts, turned into turnovers. And some of them were self inflicted. Give Sacramento credit, but it felt like some of those were just bonehead plays on our part, and that’s frustrating when you do the hard stuff and then you give possessions away, especially against a team that talented.”

“Mitch. Mitch gave us a great speech at halftime, just making sure we remained confident and he told us we were beating ourselves,” said Paul of the team reducing turnovers in the second half. “Just being sloppy with turnovers.”

• Team defense - For the third game in a row, the Spurs have held their opponent below 30 points in every quarter of the game. The Spurs had a monster defensive quarter in the third, holding the Kings to just 16 points. The Kings struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 26% from distance. The Spurs also did a great job of not putting the Kings on the free throw line much. The Spurs also didn’t let the Kings get many extra possessions with offensive rebounds either. By holding the Kings to 96 points in the game, the Spurs improved to 2-0 when holding an opponent below 100 points in a game this season.

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(2) Victor Wembanyama

The Kings elected to have Sabonis, Keegan Murray, and Trey Lyles share time guarding Wemby, and against a smaller frontcourt, Wemby had a season high scoring night.

He scored a new season high 34 points on 22 shots (59% FG), where he tied his career high in made three pointers once again, going 6-of-12 from beyond the arc. Before Saturday’s game against Utah, he was shooting 23% from three for the season. After shooting efficiently from distance in his last two games, his accuracy for the season is quickly up to 31%.

All of his made threes came off spot-up shots. He got going early by being a trailer on possessions and stepping into the shot. He got other looks as the game went on, and now that he’s starting to get in a flow from outside, teams may not want to leave him wide open anymore. He entered the game with 49% of his triples being attempted wide open, and he was already shooting 40% on his wide open 3s. That percentage should go up when I look up the new data for wide open 3s on Tuesday.

“He makes shots everyday,” said Coach Johnson of Wemby after the game. “He missed really good shots to start the year and I understand why it’s a talking point, but I don’t think we ever wavered on him not making shots, and I think it’s just percentages even out at this point.”

“What I’ve changed for sure is not taking less threes, but I’ve been taking better threes I think,” said Wemby after the game. “Of course it’s feeling better.”

As mentioned about the Kings’ smaller frontcourt, Wemby was able to score 10 paint points as well, with multiple possessions getting offensive rebounds, and then putting the ball in the basket with little resistance.

In his last two games, he’s collected 30 rebounds, after gobbling up 16 Saturday and then 14 tonight.

“His will to want to get better, his will to want to work on things,” said Paul of Wemby’s work he puts into his game behind the scenes.