Will the Spurs ever lose again? After starting off the season with a couple of losses, the Silver and Black have won their next six, steadily climbing up the standings.
Even when things don’t go well, San Antonio has been able to prevail. In the matchup against the Mavericks on Wednesday, the Spurs shot 36 three-pointers and made just five of them. Only a handful of times in league history has a team shot so poorly at that volume and won. And the poor shooting was only part of the issues. The bench got outscored by 28 points, and only four players cracked double digits in scoring. So how did the Silver and Black keep the streak going? Because they have Victor Wembanyama.
Wemby had arguably the best game of his career, finishing with 52 points, 24 rebounds, and eight blocks. The Spurs outscored Dallas by 23 points when he was on the floor in a one-point win. He was everywhere on defense, deterring or swatting shots. His jumper was off, as it was the case for the entire team, but he made an absolute killing in the paint, where no Maverick could stop him. Wemby willed the team to a win with not much help from others, which is something that only true superstars can do.
Hopefully, it won’t take such a Herculean effort from The Alien to secure the win against the bottom-dwelling Kings. Sacramento is having a rough season in which injuries have made a bad roster look more inept than anticipated. The Spurs already made easy work of them in a previous matchup this season, dominating early and cruising to a blowout win. The same outcome seems likely, but San Antonio will need to show the appropriate fear and not assume that their opponent will just roll over or that talent alone will get them another victory.
San Antonio Spurs (6-2) vs. Sacramento Kings (1-7)
November 6th, 2026 | 9:00 PM CT
Watch: DAZN | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries: Tobias Harris (calf) — Out, Jayden Quaintance (knee) — Out
Kings injuries: Ben Simmons (Achilles) — Out, Keegan Murray (ankle) — Out, Maxime Raynaud (knee) — Out
Can the bench contribute?
The decision to insert Dylan into the starting lineup has been going well enough so far that reverting it wouldn’t make sense, at least at this point, but it has had an impact on the second unit. The Spurs’ bench ranks 27th in the league in points scored per game and 29th in assists per game. Simply put, there’s very little shot creation and firepower outside of the starting unit.
The offensive struggles wouldn’t be a problem if San Antonio were bringing defensive specialists off the bench, but that’s simply not the case. Keldon Johnson has always been a subpar defender despite always bringing effort. Julian Champagnie struggles with quick perimeter players and is getting exposed often, as he can’t keep his man in front of him and has to funnel them to Luke Kornet, having a bad year so far, instead of Victor Wembanyama.
Since the starting unit has so much talent, the Spurs have been able to win games despite lacking quality depth, but a game against a weak opponent on the first night of a back-to-back would be a perfect opportunity for the subs to shine and lighten the load of the starters.
Keep Acuff Jr. inefficient
One of the few bright spots of the Kings’ season has been the play of their prized rookie, Darius Acuff Jr. The seventh overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft leads all first-year players in scoring (25.6 a game) and assists (seven a game), and even on a bad team, looks like a true building block for the future — the type of offensive engine that could eventually lead a good attack.
The big issue for the soon-to-be 20-year-old has been efficiency. Acuff has the green light in Sacramento, which is helping him put up the great raw numbers mentioned above, though they can feel a little empty at times. He’s shooting just 40 percent from the floor and 31 percent from beyond the arc while turning the ball over often. In Sacramento’s last game, he scored 22 points, but it took him 24 shots to get there. In the matchup with the Spurs from earlier in the season, he had 19 points on 20 shots.
Since the Kings’ defense is abysmal, the only way for them to beat good teams is to outscore them. Veteran starters Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and De’Andre Hunter will likely do their job on the offensive end while Malik Monk is expected to do the same off the bench. But Acuff Jr. is the big X-Factor. If he puts up big numbers but isn’t efficient, Sacramento won’t likely be able to keep up with a superior opponent.
A must-win for the midseason tournament
The Spurs will play their first game of the Emirates NBA Cup. They will battle the Kings, Lakers, Warriors, and Trail Blazers in the West’s Group C. Sacramento is clearly the worst team of the bunch, so beating them is a must if the Silver and Black, which played in the finals against the Knicks in the previous edition of the competition, are hoping to advance.
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