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Sports

Spurs try to get back on track in Sacramento

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Their perfect start to the season is over, so the San Antonio Spurs look to begin a new winning streak when they visit the Sacramento Kings Friday.

The Spurs were off to a franchise-best 4-0 start until dropping a 106-84 decision to the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday in the opener of a four-game West Coast road trip. It was a rematch of the 2012 semifinals.

Danny Green scored a team-high 12 points, while Tim Duncan added 10 points and six rebounds for the Spurs, who were outscored by a 35-21 margin in the decisive third quarter. Manu Ginobili and Gary Neal both scored nine points in a losing effort, and Tony Parker posted just four and six assists.

Ginobili has played 18,657 minutes as a member of the Spurs and is 28 minutes shy of passing Bruce Bowen for eighth on the team's all-time minutes list. Bowen played 18,689 minutes with San Antonio.

San Antonio shot 41.1 percent and committed 20 turnovers for 23 L.A. points.

"They played well. They had more emotion," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of the Clippers. "We played with them for a half and then we just didn't play with the same intensity and it showed."

The Spurs also will visit Portland and the L.A. Lakers on the trek.

Meanwhile, Sacramento hopes to close out a perfect three-game homestand Friday after losing its first three games of the season -- all on the road.

In the midst of playing 10 of 12 games in California's capital, the Kings made it two straight wins with Wednesday's 105-103 victory versus Detroit. DeMarcus Cousins scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and both Tyreke Evans and Isaiah Thomas scored 15 points.

Jason Thompson added 13 points and Jimmer Fredette netted 12 for Sacramento, which ended its season-opening slide with a win versus Golden State on Monday.

"It wasn't pretty, but overall they made the plays when it was time to make the plays and we made a couple shots when we need to make a couple shots and won the game," Kings coach Keith Smart admitted. "It was an ugly game for us to win but this team found a way to do it and that's a plus."

The Kings ended a five-game losing streak to the Pistons and kept them winless in five games this season. They have been playing solid defense early on, holding opponents to a .411 field goal percentage (5th in the NBA).

Cousins has recorded three straight double-doubles for a Kings team that was 1-2 against San Antonio last season. The Spurs have won 14 of 15 and 25 of the past 29 matchups with Sacramento, losers in 15 of the previous 18 as the host in this series.