The Spurs lost to the Kings 127-109, dropping to nine games below .500 as their playoff hopes continue to fade.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Zach LaVine scored 36 points and the Kings beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-109 on Friday night in De’Aaron Fox’s first game as a visitor in Sacramento.
Fox faced his original NBA team for the first time since being traded to the Spurs last month in a three-team deal that brough LaVine to Sacramento.
But it was LaVine who shined by scoring 16 points to break the game open in the second quarter on the way to his sixth straight game with at least 20 points.
DeMar DeRozan added 22 points and Keegan Murray scored 19 to give the Kings their fifth win in six games.
Fox shot just 6 for 17 and finished with 16 points. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 25 points.
Sacramento outscored the Spurs by 20 points in the second quarter to turn a six-point deficit into a 14-point halftime lead.
Takeaways
Spurs: About the only positive for San Antonio was the presence of star center Victor Wembanyama on the bench. Wembanyama was given clearance to travel with the team for the first time since being sidelined for the season last month with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
Kings: Despite playing without injured stars Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk, Sacramento was able to stay in control most of the night, leading by double digits the entire second half.
Key moment
Fox received a mix reaction during pregame introductions and was booed every time he touched the ball. But the fans did give him a standing ovation following a tribute video played during a first-quarter stoppage. Fox waved to the crowd in appreciation.
Key stat
LaVine made 7 of 11 3-pointers and is shooting 62.2% from long range over his last six games.
Both teams play again on Sunday night with the Spurs visiting Minnesota and the Kings traveling to face the Los Angeles Clippers.
A rough homecoming
Fox spent much of his time in Sacramento as the fan favorite and face of the Kings franchise who helped end a record-long playoff drought and brought much-needed joy to what had been a downtrodden team.
“I was raised here from a really young man to a young man who is raising a family,” Fox said Friday, hours before he was set to take the court against his old teammates. “I appreciate the time I had here. I had a lot of fun here. It’s definitely not something I take for granted.”
The end of Fox’s time in Sacramento wasn’t the easiest as he didn’t want to sign a contract extension before the season, was frustrated by the firing of coach Mike Brown in December and then ultimately was traded to the Spurs in a deal that brought Zach LaVine from Chicago to the Kings.
Fox declined to get into details about why he left or refute any misperceptions about his final months in Sacramento, saying he was just excited to play in front of his old fans again.
Fox spent the pregame visiting with old friends around the court, even posing for pictures and signing autographs for fans. But the reception when he was introduced to the crowd was a mix of cheers and boos for a player Kings interim coach Doug Christie called “one of the greatest” to play in a Sacramento uniform.
Fox was booed when he touched the ball but silenced those when he made his first shot. A tribute video played during a break in the first quarter was greeted by a standing ovation and a wave from Fox to the fans.
“It is part of the process that when you are someplace, especially like he was here for a second, there’s a lot of love and respect that goes into that,” Christie said before the game. “But when you rip the scab off, there’s a lot of pain that goes with that too. I think that both sides have to understand that.”
Fox played seven-plus seasons in Sacramento after being drafted fifth overall in 2017. He helped the Kings snap an NBA-record 16-year playoff drought in 2023, when he was an All-Star, a third-team All-NBA pick and won the Clutch Player of the Year award.
Fox said he will never forget the feeling before Game 1 of the playoff series against Golden State in 2023 when the fans got to see their first postseason game in Sacramento since 2006. Fox scored 38 points in a win that night, but the Kings ultimately lost that series in seven games.
“That’s easily the best moment I had had when I was here,” he said about Game 1 of that series. “Being able to give them a piece of that core memory was real high on my to-do list for sure.”
Fox averaged 21.5 points per game during his time in Sacramento and was one of the most productive players since the team moved to California in 1985-86. Fox ranks second in points (11,064), first in assists (3,146) and first in steals (731) in the Sacramento era for the franchise.
He said it was odd staying at the visiting team hotel next to the Kings’ arena and being in the opposite locker room, but he planned to treat the game like any other.
“To me at the end of the day, it’s still basketball,” Fox said. “You’re going to play against a team you played for. It’s not something I anticipated but you knew this would happen at some point.”
Fox said the hardest part of the past month since the trade has been the process of moving halfway across the country, adjusting to new teammates and coaches and learning names.
He has fit in well with the young Spurs and came into the game Friday averaging 19.3 points and 6.6 assists. He has also quickly bonded with his teammates, leading to star center Victor Wembanyama’s decision to join the team on this trip to support Fox even though he is out for the season with deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder.
“What he’s going through is definitely tough,” Fox said. “For us, we just want him to be healthy. We want him to be healthy enough to be able to get on a plane and to be able to support us as a team. That’s what he wants to do anyway. For us, we want him to be as healthy as possible.”