Well, the Fox is back in the...er...hen-house? De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs are set to take on his former team in a what’s likely to be somewhat of an amped showdown after Fox put the Kings in between a rock and a hard place with the specifics of his trade request.
It’s been a season of adjustments for San Antonio, still reeling from the loss of Victor Wembanyama to a season-ending blood clot, but they haven’t thrown in the towel just yet — managing to keep their record close to .500 over the last ten games, and coming in off of a win after giving the Rockets, Grizzlies, and Thunder all they could handle.
Meanwhile, the Kings continue their push for playoff positioning, making this a crucial test for both teams. They’ve had to deal with their own changes in landscape, but have more or less managed to maintain equilibrium, with Chicago castoffs Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan making up for the Fox’s exit scoring-wise, and now having to do even more with Sacramento also down a talented big man in Domantas Sabonis.
Fortunately for the Kings (and not so much for the Spurs), Sacramento had the good sense to rescue Jonas Valančiūnas from the wasteland that is Washington’s District of Colombia, and he’s given them their first true center in some time and proven to be a timely acquisition. Given the state of San Antonio’s front-court (and Valančiūnas’ knack for going off against the Spurs), that’s not the ideal scenario that Sabonis’ injury would normally have provided.
Sacramento remains a dangerous offensive team (7th in offensive rating, 8th in scoring) and they play solid fundamental basketball (6th best turnover percentage, 6th best rebounding percentage, 2nd best free-throw percentage), so the Spurs will have to thread the needle in order to create advantages against them.
Still, there’s vulnerability there, as their offensive ratings have declined slightly since the trade deadline, even as their defense has improved. With two of their top five scorers out, the Spurs have a real shot to put a damper on their postseason ambitions; especially if Devin Vassell has a repeat performance of his onslaught against the Nets.
Whether it ends up being a revenge game for Fox or just another night of hard-fought basketball, one thing’s for sure — the Spurs aren’t going away just yet.
San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings
March 7th, 2025 | 9:00 CT
Watch: KENS 5 | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Charles Bassey - Questionable (Knee), Victor Wembanyama - Out (Incurable Badass)
Kings Injuries: Domantas Sabonis - Out (Leg), Malik Monk - Questionable (Foot)
For the Kings’ fan’s perspective, please visit Kings Herald.
PtR’s Game thread will be up this evening for those who want to chat through the game. You can also follow along with the action through PtR’s Twitter feed.