Hot three point shooting propels the Spurs past the Kings

After a disappointing loss to Oklahoma City on Monday, the Spurs bounced back in a big way last night by blowing out the Kings 136-117.

San Antonio’s offensive explosion was largely fueled by ridiculous three-point shooting, as the good guys made a season-high 18 triples on just 32 attempts. More importantly, it was a true team effort, as seven Spurs scored at least 15 points and the bench alone scored 65, which was almost half of the team’s final score.

Dejounte Murray continued his impressive start to the year by putting up a season-high 26 on 11/21 shooting, and Thaddeus Young also had his best game as a Spur with a 17 point effort and an eye-popping eight assists. With that said, the most encouraging part about the game is the fact that the team was able to lead by double digits for virtually the entire night and never let Sacramento back in the game. It’s always a good sign to see a young club maintain their composure and close out matches in a confident fashion.

Outside of the shooting, there were also some nice passes completed that showed off good team chemistry. One example of that happened halfway through the first quarter when Lonnie Walker IV made a smart backdoor cut (while being guarded by Davion Mitchell, no less) before receiving a pretty dime from Young.

DJ also showed off his improved playmaking abilities by finding Keldon Johnson for an easy lay-in after using a nice in-and-out dribble to get around his defender.

The Spurs even profited from passes that didn’t reach their intended target, as Doug McDermott intercepted a Derrick White feed that was originally for Walker and finished with a pretty reverse layup.

The most memorable dime, however, came in the second quarter when DJ found Walker for a three. That marked the 1000th career assist for Murray, an impressive feat considering that he’s still only 25 and missed an entire season due to injury.

With the team catching fire from distance, you’d probably not be surprised to hear that Devin Vassell played a large part in the three-point onslaught. The sophomore guard hit a team-high five treys on just seven attempts and continued to show off his smooth jumper.

Fan favourite Bryn Forbes also made three triples, but his most impressive play from the game was this drive and finish over Alex Len.

Hopefully this win can give the Spurs some confidence and help them avenge their loss to Dallas last week when the two teams meet again on Friday.

And as always, here are the full highlights from last night’s game.