'We're Happy With That': San Antonio Spurs, Zach Collins Taking Sacramento Loss As A Positive

The San Antonio Spurs came out of Friday night's contest with another loss and more things to work on, but they also found some positives — specifically from Zach Collins, who found a way to impact the game in just about every way he could have.

SAN ANTONIO — Zach Collins was second to touch the basketball Friday night. 

Before he gained possession off of the dribble, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama tipped it his direction — and from that point until about five minutes were left on the first-quarter clock, all signs pointed to a home-team blowout. 

“They came out, and they hit us in the mouth," Sacramento Kings star De'Aaron Fox said. "That’s all there was to it. They came in, they got on us. ... We can’t allow that to happen against anybody. That was on us. They came out ready.” 

Between Wembanyama's six quick points and Julian Champagnie's instant impact, San Antonio amassed a 23-5 lead and proved it was ready. Collins played a role in that, too, and early on it appeared that not only would he be having himself a game, but the Spurs would earn their first In-Season Tournament win of the season.

But by the end of the fourth quarter, only one of those things came true.

Nov 17, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (10) gets crushed by San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) and center Zach Collins (23) during the second half at Frost Bank Center / © Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

San Antonio fought hard. That's the story you'll find plastered online — adding a contest to a seven-game losing streak can only get so exciting, after all. But while the outcome was all-too familiar for the Spurs, it stuck out for one reason:

They showed signs of life.

“We’ve had games very similar to this one where we start off really good, and then they come back, we put our heads down and don’t fight back," Collins said. "We didn’t do that tonight, and that was the biggest thing. We just kept our heads [up]. We had a good attitude. We stayed positive. They were still hitting shots, but we still made it a game at the end. We’re happy with that, but we know we can play better.”

On paper, not much was unique about Friday night — from a team perspective. San Antonio fell apart late, started strong and Victor Wembanyama did his thing. Integrating the rookie into the Spurs' game plan has been a big to-do, so for him to perform well was exactly what the team had hoped for.

But alongside him, the Spurs also want the team to perform well, and that's the part they're still figuring out.

“There are sacrifices to [make], and we are ready to do [that]," Wembanyama said. "Of course, it's hard to be to be patient sometimes. Just like everything in life. But it's an everyday fight. I know that the end of the season will not look like the beginning of the season. We got a good way to go in progression.” 

San Antonio might not have everything figured out, but it certainly does have bright spots to lean on. Collins was certainly one of them, as he stuffed the box score with a little bit of everything. 

By the end of the night, the center had tallied 28 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block on 10-14 shooting — exactly what he's expected to bring to a squad in search of consistency. 

And safe to say, his teammates took notice.

“On offense, he was just playing right," Wembanyama said. "On defense, he was doing a great job getting into the guys. I think for all of us, it was a pleasure playing with him and seeing him play that way tonight.” 

So, the Spurs came away with yet another loss. Once again, they fell short against a better, more experienced team and fell one game further below .500. It's what was expected from them, especially given their youth, but with every game they've lost, they have improved. And that's also been apparent.

"You've got to give them credit," Kings coach Mike Brown said. "They play really, really hard. They just keep believing no matter what the score is, and it showed tonight. Their two bigs had a fantastic game, [Victor Wembanyama] and [Zach] Collins. Those guys had a big game for them."

It's no secret that Collins' impact was felt on the floor by both teams, though the disconnect stems from the inability for that to translate to wins. That's what the Spurs have to figure out next, but doing so will be significantly easier if Collins continues to play the way he has. 

And right now, that's likely. He's playing consistently and more importantly, he's keeping his head up and leading by example.  

“We feel like we’ve had a good half, and then we’re just waiting for that clock to go to zero and then to get into the locker room," Collins said. "That’s kind of our biggest thing ... but we've got to shore that up being a young team. That sense of urgency just needs to be there. 

"If we could shore that up, we’re in all these games.”

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Collins and the Spurs will take home court for the second straight night Saturday, this time against the struggling Memphis Grizzlies. If they can pull out a win, they'll make their first step to getting back on track — which would be huge for the young team.

Tipoff from Frost Bank Center is set for 7 p.m. CST.