Spurs spoil Kings Opening Night at the Golden 1 Center

The Kings put up a tough fight on one of the most historic nights in franchise history. The Kings kicked off their history in their new home with a 102-94 loss to the visiting San Antonio Spurs. With all the festivities going on with the opening of the new arena, there was still a game to play, and the Kings did not disappoint their fans with the effort the team came out with. Sacramento jumped out to a fast 8-2 lead in the opening minutes. The atmosphere and energy from the team and the crowd in their new home was ecstatic.

Unfortunately for the Kings, the Spurs are still one of the NBA's great teams. Despite trailing for the majority of the 1st 3 quarters, the Spurs, led by Kawhi Leonard, took control of the game towards the end of the 3rd quarter and, despite strong efforts by Sacramento, stuck with the lead for most of the 4th quarter and eventually took home the win.

Kawhi Leonard finished the game with 30 PTS in almost 35 minutes. DeMarcus Cousins, however, led all scorers with 37 PTS to go along with 16 boards. Dewayne Dedmon provided a nice spark off the bench for the Spurs, finishing with 12 PTS, 7 REB, and 4 blocks.

It was Omri Casspi who fell out of the rotation last night, as Gay, Barnes, and Tolliver all split time at the 3. It will be interesting to see how the Kings deal with the logjam at the SF position as the season continues.

Despite the loss, the Kings have a lot to be positive following last night’s game. They put up a tough fight against one of the elite teams in the NBA. Coach Dave Joerger must be proud of his teams’ energy and effort, and Kings fans must be very excited about the remaining 80 regular season games.

Up next for the Kings is another home game Saturday night as they welcome the Minnesota Timberwolves and their young core of Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, and Kris Dunn to town. The game will begin at 7:30pm and will be broadcast on CSNCA and you can listen to it on 1140 KHTK.