Long faces abound after Kings' loss to Spurs

When Kings co-owner Joe Maloof took his courtside seat at Arco Arena on Wednesday night, the three seats to his right were as empty as the expression on his face.

He wore a look of frustration even at the start, the enthusiasm and animation for which he and his brother Gavin are so well known nowhere to be found. More than two hours later, he didn't look any more pleased.

As the Kings fell for the 18th time in the past 21 games in a 115-113 loss to San Antonio, the air of disapproval continued to grow from the highest levels.

That much was painfully evident during the Kings' furious late rally that didn't truly threaten the outcome, as the announced crowd of 12,934 enjoyed the temporary thrill while Maloof continued to sit stoic. He wasn't alone.

There is much melancholy for these Kings these days, as their search for the kind of get-right game that is as elusive as a Tony Parker dribble-drive continues to go unfulfilled.

Yet even with the luxury of not facing the Spurs point guard who didn't play because of an ankle injury, there was more disappointment. Tim Duncan had 22 points and 13 rebounds, although he faced respectable resistance against Kings center Spencer Hawes (18 points, six rebounds and three blocks). He was one of four Spurs to score 20-plus points, joining George Hill (23), Manu Ginobili (20) and DeJuan Blair (20) as San Antonio shot 52.4 percent.

Evans scored 17 of his 32 points in a dynamic fourth quarter in which he hit 6 of 8 shots (11 of 18 overall), had four of his eight assists and two steals. Martin struggled in the fourth, going scoreless while missing all four of his shots (15 points on 6-of-17 shooting overall). But as the Kings spent the final minutes fouling out of necessity, the Spurs hit eight of their final free throws to stall the rally.

"It's like we go out there and play hard, but at the end of games we don't find a way to pull it out," said Evans, who played after missing Monday's game at Denver because of a sore right ankle. "It seems like guys are wanting to get a win, but our execution is terrible."

That was certainly the case early in the fourth quarter, when the Spurs' 8-0 run was a shared effort that incensed coach Paul Westphal. After Hill flew through the lane unimpeded for a dunk that pushed the lead to five, Westphal screamed at Sergio Rodríguez for a missed assignment while pounding his eraser board with his pen.

The fans showed their own discontent moments later, when Evans' perfect pass through the lane resulted in a blown reverse layup by Martin. In what has been a home-floor rarity for the Kings, there were boos as matters grew worse.

"It's pretty tough, man," said Kings small forward Omri Casspi, who started in the absence of power forward Jason Thompson (attending a funeral). "I believe that we need only one good game, one win to get out of it. We've just got to play together more on offense, try to help more on defense, get more stops. … As far as I know, as far as I'm involved, we're all trying to stay together to get out of it, try to be positive and just try to win, I thought."

While this Spurs team isn't as dominant defensively as in years past (they entered ranked seventh in opponents' points allowed at 96.2 per game), the idea of the Kings fixing their offensive woes against them was still far-fetched. Nonetheless, they scored 60 points in the first half and shot 56.1 percent from the field.

The only catch, of course, is that the Kings defended even less than the visitors. They trailed 61-60 at halftime after giving up a combined 45 points to Duncan, Hill and Blair. Kings point guard Beno Udrih did not play against his old team, with Westphal going with Rodriguez largely because of Udrih's plantar fascittis that has recently plagued him.

KINGS' NEXT GAME

Friday vs. Phoenix

Time: 7 p.m.

TV: CSNCA.

PHOTO GALLERY

The Bee's Carl Costas offers a photo gallery of the Kings game against San Antonio.

sacbee.com/photos

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SYYSY SY SYSYS, xy xy xy xy xy xy xyxy xy >SPURS 115, KINGS 113

SAN ANTONIO (115)

FG FT R

Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt

Jefferson 37:34 5-14 1-2 0-3 1 1 12

Duncan 28:52 8-14 6-7 5-13 2 4 22

McDyess 20:07 3-6 0-0 1-4 0 1 6

Hill 41:35 7-16 9-9 0-4 9 4 23

Bogans 30:31 5-7 0-0 1-1 3 2 12

Ginobili 29:18 7-12 5-7 1-3 6 2 20

Bonner 6:59 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Blair 23:42 9-11 2-3 2-6 1 2 20

Finley 10:41 0-1 0-0 1-3 0 1 0

Mason 10:40 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Totals 239:59 44-84 23-28 11-38 22 18 115

Percentages: FG .524, FT .821. 3-Point goals: 4-13, .308 (Bogans 2-3, Jefferson 1-2, Ginobili 1-4, Hill 0-1, Mason 0-1, Bonner 0-2). Team rebounds: 12. Team turnovers: 15 (23 PTS). Blocked Shots: 4 (Blair, Ginobili, Hill, Jefferson). Turnovers: 14 (Ginobili 4, Hill 3, Blair 2, Jefferson 2, Bogans, Finley, Mason). Steals: 6 (Blair 2, Hill 2, Duncan, Ginobili). Technical fouls: None.

KINGS (113)

FG FT R

Min M-A M-A O-T A F Pt

Casspi 31:30 4-12 0-0 1-6 1 2 8

Greene 37:20 5-9 0-0 3-3 1 3 12

Hawes 31:17 9-14 0-1 3-6 3 3 18

Evans 38:46 11-18 7-9 0-7 8 5 32

Martin 39:03 6-17 2-4 0-5 1 2 15

Udoka 11:12 2-3 1-1 1-2 0 0 6

Brockman 15:01 1-1 2-2 1-2 0 3 4

Nocioni 13:56 2-5 0-0 1-1 1 2 6

Rodriguez 16:19 5-7 0-0 0-0 3 3 10

May 1:44 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Armstrong 3:52 0-0 2-2 1-2 0 0 2

Totals 240 45-86 14-19 11-34 18 23 113

Percentages: FG .523, FT .737. 3-Point goals: 9-22, .409 (Evans 3-5, Nocioni 2-2, Greene 2-5, Udoka 1-2, Martin 1-4, Hawes 0-1, Casspi 0-3). Team rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 13 (10 PTS). Blocked shots: 5 (Hawes 3, Evans, Greene). Turnovers: 12 (Evans 4, Hawes 4, Casspi, Greene, Martin, Udoka). Steals: 8 (Casspi 2, Evans 2, Greene, Hawes, Martin, Rodriguez). Technical fouls: Nocioni, 0:37.4 first; defensive three seconds, 5:21 third.

San Antonio31 30 27 27 – 115

KINGS29 31 23 30 – 113

A–12,934 (17,317). T–2:22. Officials–Monty McCutchen, Derrick Collins, Kane Fitzgerald.

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