The San Antonio Spurs resume the NBA In-Season Tournament on Friday. Winless in two tournament games so far, they face the Sacramento Kings, the only team in Group C that's played just one game in the inaugural competition. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the lone team in the group that's played three tourney games. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, like the Silver and Black, have taken part in two pool play contests.
As we size up the Spurs' next matchup, it's worth noting that this is the group that gave us the Draymond Green-Rudy Gobert fracas on Tuesday night.
West Group C Standings
Minnesota Timberwolves: 2-0
Sacramento Kings: 1-0
Golden State Warriors: 1-1
Oklahoma City Thunder: 1-2
San Antonio Spurs: 0-2
Spurs' In-Season Tournament Results
The Spurs started the In-Season Tournament with last Friday's loss to the T'Wolves. Following 41-point and 21-point road blowouts to the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, it was a return to the type of outcome that, to that point, was typical of their early-season performance. Outside of a 40-points rout at the Los Angles Clippers and an 11-point victory in which Wembanyama and the Spurs pulled away from the Phoenix Suns late, the loss to Minnesota marked the fifth game in their first nine decided by single digits. It also marked great outings for the best players on both teams.
VWembanyama and Devin Vassell both notched 29 points. Wembanyama also grabbed nine rebounds, blocked four shots and collected four assists in what might be the most balanced performance of his young career. Anthony Edwards notched 28 for the Timberwolves, while Karl-Anthony Towns also poured in 29. San Antonio's fourth quarter rally fell short in the 117-110 final.
Though also a loss, the Spurs' second game in the competition differed greatly from their opener four days earlier. Billed as the first of what could be league-defining battles between Wembanyama and Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren, neither played well in an embarrassing setback for the Spurs. The 123-87 shellacking meant a third loss of at least 30 points, matching an 11-game feat set by the 1990-91 Denver Nuggets. Holmgren, who missed all of what would've been his true rookie year with a preseason injury, ended up with only nine points. Wemby scored just eight, though he did grab a career-high 14 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 28 points proved a game-high by a wide margin. No Spur scored more than 13 and Josh Giddey added 18 for OKC.
Spurs bracing for Kings
Streaking Sacramento is next. The Kings have won four straight, including a victory in pool play against the same Thunder squad that just blew out the Spurs. They're coming off a 125-110 triumph against LeBron James and the Los Angles Lakers and a 132-120 victory vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers. A 121-118 win over the Portland Trailblazers started the win streak, ending a three-game losing skid that came without leading scorer De'Aaron Fox and led to a 2-4 start. Fox's 30 points per game in the five he's played would be tied for fifth in the league. Domantas Sabonis is averaging 19.1 ppg while Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter are adding 14 points per outing.
Though it's highly unlikely the Spurs will advance to the knock-out stage of the tournament, they'd officially be eliminated with a loss to Sacramento on Friday.
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