Bagley’s 360-degree dunk in victory over Spurs is symbolic of Kings’ turnaround

Yogi Ferrell threw it up and Marvin Bagley III threw it down, twisting and turning through the air for a sensational alley-oop dunk that brought the fans to their feet and sent a shockwave through the arena.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich quickly called a timeout, but even he couldn’t stop the onslaught. Not on a night when everything went so right for the Kings.

Bagley put up a career-high 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots, leading Sacramento to a 127-112 victory over the Spurs on Monday night at Golden 1 Center. He became the first Kings rookie to post three consecutive double-doubles since DeMarcus Cousins in March 2011.

“Sky’s the limit for him,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “It’s really fun to watch.”

The Kings (28-25) snapped a five-game winning streak for the Spurs (32-23). They have won four of their last five games, including three in a row to start a critical six-game home stand. They will play host to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, the Miami Heat on Friday and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Sacramento has won seven in a row at home, the team’s longest home winning streak since 2005-06. The Kings moved within a half-game of the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth spot in the Western Conference and surpassed last season’s win total with 29 games remaining.

“I think we’ve gotten back to the way we were playing at the beginning of the season,” said Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, who had 20 points, six assists and six rebounds. “Marvin is really coming into his own. He’s been playing extremely well. ... We had a lot of guys contributing. We always have a lot of guys in double-figure scoring. I just think we’re able to attack you in so many different ways.”

Bagley chose to attack from the air and got the arena buzzing with a 360-degree dunk on a lob from Ferrell in the fourth quarter. Bagley was running the floor in transition when Ferrell saw him point to the sky, calling for the alley-oop.

“Marvin pointed up,” Ferrell said. “I know when he does that, he wants it.”

Ferrell lobbed the ball toward the rim and Bagley went up to get it.

“He’s always got it,” Ferrell said. “He’s out-jumping anyone in the NBA, period.”

Bagley said he didn’t know he was going to do a 360 when his feet left the floor.

“It was just one of those things that happened in the moment,” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about what I was going to do. I just went up and it happened.”

Bagley’s dunk sparked a decisive run as the Kings’ lead swelled from seven to 17 over a span of about three minutes.

Bagley was one of six players who scored in double figures for the Kings, who shot 55.6 percent from the field and amassed a 60-32 advantage in points off the bench. Ferrell came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Buddy Hield had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

“When you’re playing like that, it’s always exciting,” Bagley said.

San Antonio guard DeMar DeRozan was impressed with the Kings, who beat the Spurs for the second time this season.

“You have to give them credit,” DeRozan said. “They are a talented young team. They go out there, play extremely hard, go out there and have fun. When you play against a group of guys like that, when their confidence is high, outcomes like this happen no matter who they’re playing against.”

Bagley, the No. 2 pick in June’s NBA draft, endured his share of struggles early in the season, but his enormous potential is coming into view as an evolving skill set grows to match his elite athleticism.

“He’s coming along and obviously he’s talented, so it’s really fun to watch him grow,” Joerger said.

Bagley missed 11 games in December and January due to a knee injury, but he’s averaging 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds over the past six games.

“It’s coming together,” Bagley said. “Everything’s coming together. I’m just continuing to learn, get better and grow. The game is definitely slowing down. I’ve just got to keep going and be one of those names that everybody talks about in the league.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2019 at 6:54 AM.