San Antonio, Texas: Spurs Beat Kings 130-103 as Wembanyama Scores 29 and Champagnie Hits Eight First-Half Threes

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 130-103 at Frost Bank Center on Tuesday night, October 27, behind an 80-point first half, 29 points from Victor Wembanyama and a record shooting half from Julian Champagnie. Champagnie scored 26 points off the bench and made eight 3-pointers in the first half, the most in a half by any player in Spurs history, according to ESPN Insights figures carried in game reports.

A first half that settled it

San Antonio led 39-29 after the first quarter and 80-54 at halftime. The 80 points, 23 assists and 13 made 3-pointers before the break were league season highs for a half, Reuters reported. Wembanyama scored 15 points in the first quarter, and the Spurs opened the game with a run of alley-oop dunks finished by Wembanyama off passes from De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell. Champagnie's eighth 3-pointer of the half, and his sixth of the second quarter, pushed the lead to 68-43 with 4:23 left in the half. Wembanyama tipped in a final basket at the buzzer to close the half. Sacramento never got closer than 23 points in the third quarter, and San Antonio carried a 107-80 lead into the fourth.

Balanced scoring behind the two big halves

Seven Spurs reached double figures. Castle scored 15 points, Vassell and Keldon Johnson scored 14 each, Dylan Harper had 13 and Fox had 11. Wembanyama finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals in 27 minutes. Champagnie scored 24 of his 26 points in the first half and played 25 minutes. "I think we felt today what we were supposed to do and what we weren't," Wembanyama said after the game, in comments reported by Sports Illustrated. "And we actually showed progress throughout the game. So, I think, I hope, we can stick to the good stuff we did." He added that the early lobs opened shots for his teammates later: "The strength of our team is, as an opponent, you have to take care of multiple threats. This time, the lob was open early. That opened up my teammates later on."

Kings stay winless

De'Andre Hunter led Sacramento with 24 points. Zach LaVine added 22, Darius Acuff Jr. scored 19, and Domantas Sabonis finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. The Kings fell to 0-4 and have given up at least 121 points in every game this season.

What comes next

The win was San Antonio's second straight and its first at home this season, and it lifted the Spurs to 2-2. The game opened a home and road back-to-back for San Antonio, which continues Wednesday, October 28, at Utah. Sacramento plays at New Orleans on Thursday, October 29.