The Sacramento Kings hosted their first Emirates NBA Cup game tonight, falling to the San Antonio Spurs 124-109. Sacramento now falls to 1-8 on the season. 

Like most games this season, there was no suspense over the end result. San Antonio led wire to wire, and was up double digits for nearly all of the game. Sacramento trailed 75-56 at half, and ultimately lost by 15. While the score was not close, there is still plenty to take away from this game. 

Unexpected Wing Depth 

De’Andre Hunter missed tonight’s game due to illness, and the Kings were in need of wing help. Surely that help comes from recent first-round picks Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban, right? 

Wrong. Leaky Black made his first regular season start in a Kings uniform. Black is listed at 6’6, but appears to be an inch or two taller than that. He brings legitimate size at the wing, akin to Hunter and Keegan Murray. 

The 27-year-old wing did a little of everything in his team-high 40 minutes tonight, finishing with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals on 4/7 shooting (all shots were threes) and frequently serving as the point-of-attack defender guarding whichever of the Spurs’ vaunted trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, or Dylan Harper was on the floor at the time. 

Credit where it is due: Black has played his way into the discussion as it relates to Sacramento’s wing depth moving forward. To be clear, though, he is by no means a young player or part of the young core (and, like Daeqwon Plowden, is not their next Keon Ellis).

Black played five seasons at North Carolina before entering the league and is in his fourth professional season. Like Plowden, Black can absolutely be a depth piece. As he showed tonight, he fits the Hunter/Murray big wing role well. 

Darius Acuff Jr. with the throwdown off the steal from Leaky Black. The Kings rookie with the point to the Kings bench after his dunk. pic.twitter.com/5cPo3t8HCD

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) November 7, 2026

Young core/depth piece semantics aside, Black seems to have leapfrogged fellow wings Nique Clifford and Alex Karaban on the depth chart. This is Black’s consecutive game playing over 20 minutes. Clifford and Karaban combined for 15 minutes tonight, and neither has played more than 20 minutes in a game this season. 

It remains to be seen just how long Doug Christie will go with Black. He will go back to the second unit when Hunter returns. Christie is clearly still looking for lineups that work together, so Keegan Murray’s return does not necessarily bump Black from the rotation entirely. 

Watching how wing minutes are allocated will be one of the more interesting subplots to watch moving forward. Sacramento has two veteran wings making notable salaries (Murray and Hunter - one of whom Scott Perry extended, and one of whom Perry scouted heavily when with the Knicks, then traded for in Sacramento), two former first-round picks (Clifford and Karaban), and several two-way hits (Plowden and Black). 

Slowly but Surely Getting Healthy

Dylan Cardwell returned from injury tonight. The big man joined the second unit of Malik Monk, Emanuel Sharp, and Alex Karaban. 

Cardwell picked up two early fouls and was not much of a factor early in this game, but he did inject some life in the third quarter. It was a welcome sight to see one of last season’s fan favorites back in action, providing depth behind Domantas Sabonis (who dealt with foul trouble of his own tonight). 

Cardwell finished with 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks in 15 minutes. It was nice to have 48 minutes of center play, and it will be interesting to see how the minutes shake out once Maxime Raynaud is healthy. 

Defense, Anyone? 

This was one of Sacramento’s better offensive outings. They shared the ball, shot well from three, and got good looks fairly regularly. For most teams, this means they would be in a very strong position to win that game. 

Unfortunately, this does not mean much when you allow the other team to show 61% from the field and sixty seven percent (67%) from three, which is precisely what the Kings did tonight. 

Sacramento gave up 75 points in the first half. Julian Champagnie did not replicate his 8/11 3PT performance like last time these teams played, but the Spurs were hot as a team tonight. San Antonio went 10/16 from three in the first half, and finished 15/30 as a team. 

The Spurs cooled off in the second half, but were still getting the looks they wanted – both from three and in the paint. This is not surprising. It is what you sign up for when (i) Domantas Sabonis is your big man, and you do not have plus defenders elsewhere to make up for his deficiencies, and (ii) Darius Acuff Jr. and Zach LaVine are your backcourt. 

Rookie Watch

San Antonio came out trying to make Acuff. defend. The Spurs guards were posting Acuff up when they could. The rookie picked up two early fouls, and it was interesting to see him navigate some early foul trouble as a team made a concerted effort to put him in actions. 

Acuff looked like himself on offense, finishing with 22 points and 8 assists. He looks incredibly comfortable as an offensive engine. The efficiency will come (it was not bad tonight, but it can always improve), and the playmaking may actually be better than advertised. 

Darius Acuff Jr. tonight:

22 Points
8 Assists
3 Rebounds
2 Steals
45% FG
33 Minutes pic.twitter.com/zpHeMROteL

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 7, 2026

Acuff did turn his ankle in the game, but was able to push through and stay in the game. Sacramento’s next game comes on Sunday, when they host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the new-look Miami Heat.