Victor Wembanyama, Spurs drub Kings for seventh straight win

Victor Wembanyama scored 20 of his 30 points in a runaway first half, Stephon Castle added 19 points and the visiting San Antonio Spurs won their seventh straight game Friday night, defeating the Sacramento Kings 124-109 ⁠in each team's opening game ⁠of the NBA Cup.

Coming off a 52-point, 24-rebound explosion in a one-point home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Wembanyama recorded his seventh double-double of the season ⁠with a game-high 14 rebounds in just 26 minutes.

Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. scored 22 points and dished out eight assists, while Domantas Sabonis had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for the Kings, who lost for the eighth time in nine games this season.

After the Kings took a 20-18 lead, the Spurs took charge for good by scoring 20 points in the final 4:59 of the first quarter. Castle ⁠and ⁠Dylan Harper had three-point plays during the run before Wembanyama scored the team's final eight points of the period, including an alley-oop dunk in the final seconds to give San Antonio a 38-29 advantage.

The Spurs led 75-56 at halftime, with Wembanyama having made seven of his nine shots. San Antonio shot 25-for-42 (59.5%) overall and 10-for-16 (62.5%) from 3-point range in the first half.

The ⁠Kings, playing the second game of a seven-game homestand, got no closer than 12 points over the final 24 minutes.

Wembanyama made four of six shots from beyond the arc after entering the game just 12-for-50 (24.0%) from 3-point range. He also had two blocks.

Harper and Devin Vassell joined Castle with 19 points apiece for ⁠the Spurs, who ‌are ‌competing in West Group C of the ⁠NBA Cup along with the Kings, ‌Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.

Acuff recorded the seventh 20-point game of his ⁠rookie season. He shot 9-for-20 and also had ⁠a game-high eight assists and two steals.

Zach LaVine had 14 ⁠points, while Leaky Black and Malik Monk scored 12 each for Sacramento, which lost by double digits for the seventh time this season.