SACRAMENTO -- LaMarcus Aldridge for three, assist Pau Gasol. Aldridge 20-foot jumper, assist Tony Parker. Gasol 3-pointer, assist Parker. Parker driving lay-up.
That is the first 91 seconds of the Kings 108-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night.
There is no shame in dropping a nine point game to the Spurs. The fact that it was the 11th consecutive loss to the Spurs isn't embarrassing either.
The combination of Aldridge, Gasol, Parker and reserve Manu Ginobili have a combined 52 years of NBA experience. They have 19 All-Star game appearances between them and 10 Championship rings.
For two decades, Gregg Popovich has done nothing but win games and create Hall of Fame players in San Antonio. While Sacramento is measuring success in monthly intervals, the Spurs on their way to 21st consecutive playoff appearance. They are the model NBA franchise.
"They just took us to school," Kings coach Dave Joerger said following the game. "They did not feel us. They had four turnovers going to the fourth quarter."
Despite both teams playing in the same league, they're current paths are worlds apart. Sacramento is playing much better as of late. They came into the night 7-7 over their last 14 games. They had strung together a pair of wins. That's not how the Spurs measure success.
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The Kings are growing. They weren't completely overwhelmed by the Spurs and they even had a couple of standout performance. The improvement in the play on the court is obvious and it's a positive step in the right direction.
"I'm really proud of our guys, I just told them how much they've all improved through the last four weeks through the video, through the work they're doing on the court," Joerger added. "They're miles and miles ahead of where we were four weeks ago and that's the most important thing."
Willie Cauley-Stein struggled to control the Spurs frontline, but he managed to score 22 points and grab 11 rebounds in the loss. He's taken huge strides in his third season in the league.
"Guys are just learning how to play, play in the league - learning how to score in the league, learning how to defend in the league," Cauley-Stein said. "This amount of young dudes, it's going to take a little time to understand spacing and defensive help and help the helper."
For stretches, Cauley-Stein and his Kings teammates were chasing their own tails, while San Antonio spread the floor and hit the open man. Joerger stuck with his group and let them learn on the fly.
"I take my cap off to them letting us battle through mistakes," Cauley-Stein said of the Kings' coaching staff. "You know, that's something I didn't get to do my first couple of years in the league and the fact that the rookies are getting to battle through their mistakes and learn how to play - that's big time."
In addition to Cauley-Stein, second year shooting guard Buddy Hield and rookie Bogdan Bogdanovic came up big as well.
Starting for the first time since Halloween, Hield dropped in a team-high 24 points for Sacramento on 9-of-17 shooting. He grabbed eight rebounds and blocked a shot in 32 minutes of action.
"We've got to learn how to get stops," Hield said. "They move the ball really good. As a team, we need to learn from that team. How they move the ball. How they guard. And how they play for each other."
Bogdanovic went toe-to-toe with Ginobili for stretches and didn't back down. He hit all six of his shots, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long range to finish with 15 points.
The Kings continue to ask for patience as they develop their young players. Three of their young core stepped up against the Spurs.
They'll get another shot to show they are progressing on Tuesday when they travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers. Then it's back to Sacramento for a matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday evening. The NBA schedule waits for no one.
