Spurs look for 50th win when they battle Kings

The San Antonio Spurs will be seeking their 18th straight 50-win season when they host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

San Antonio has won 50 or more games every season since 1997-98 except in the strike-shortened 1998-99 campaign when they went 37-13. The Spurs have had just one losing season (20-62 in 1996-97) in 28 years.

Over that same 28-year span, Sacramento has had just eight winning seasons, all in an eight-year run from 1998-99 to 2005-06.

The Spurs have won eight straight games, including Monday's 112-110 victory over Houston in San Antonio. Monday's win came down to Kawhi Leonard's 3-pointer with 25.4 seconds left, his block of James Harden's layup attempt at the other end and two Leonard free throws with 14.4 to play.

Leonard scored 39 points in the win, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. It was the 23rd time this season that he scored 30-plus points in a game.

"That block is what makes Kawhi special," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "Obviously the 3s -- you know Harden makes 3s, Steph 1/8Curry 3/8 makes 3s, this guy makes 3s, that guy makes 3s -- everybody does that. But I don t know who goes to the other end and does what Kawhi does. He wanted it badly, and he went and took it."

Tony Parker added 19 points for the Spurs (49-13) while LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points for San Antonio, which took the season series with Houston, 3-1.

The victory marked the Spurs' fourth in a row that has been decided in in either the final 30 seconds or in overtime. San Antonio guard Danny Green said that having games go down to the wire is good.

"We're learning and building," Green said. "Mentally, we're getting more focused and locked in. We are finding different rotations against different teams. Playing against the Rockets is the ultimate test of guarding the 3-point line and talking in rotations, especially the pick-and-roll. This was a good prep for us."

The Kings head to the Alamo City on the heels of a 108-96 loss at Denver on Monday night. Darren Collison led the Kings with 17 points, Kosta Koufos recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds and Buddy Hield had 14 points off the bench.

Sacramento has lost five straight games.

The Kings played their second game in two nights after losing in Salt Lake City to the Jazz in overtime on Sunday.

"Coming off a back-to-back is always tough to find your pace and rhythm," Collison said. "Still, no excuses. We didn't do some things well we did in the previous game. I don't think fatigue had a lot to do with it. We have to find a way to be mentally tougher."

The Kings are still adjusting to their new roster after trading star center DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans on Feb. 19. It has been a struggle, but it won't get easier with Wednesday's game versus the surging Spurs followed by back-to-back home games against Washington and Denver on Friday and Saturday.

"It's been tough, just trying to get used to each other," said Kings guard Ty Lawson, who scored 13 points in the defeat at Denver. "This is five games we've lost in a row? We've got to get another one soon."

San Antonio is 2-0 against the Kings this season and have won eight straight contests versus Sacramento.