OKLAHOMA CITY — A 40-point third quarter made it interesting, but the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a second consecutive game, fell to the Sacramento Kings, 124-115.
The biggest sequence of the game happened during the 7:14 to 7:08 mark of the fourth quarter. After Kenrich Williams blew a layup that would’ve cut the Kings’ lead to five points, Trey Lyles hit a 3-pointer to give the Kings a 10-point lead.
For the remaining seven minutes, the Kings never led by fewer than eight points and the Thunder ended the night without ever taking a lead.
“Credit them, the effort it takes to defend them for 48 minutes is substantial,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “They play with great pace, they have good creators and they got shooting everywhere. It’s not easy to do, but if you want to win the game it’s what you have to do,”
Without their one-time All-Star, the Thunder did an impressive job. They scored 115 points and shot 41-of-86 (47.7%) from the field and 16-of-40 (40%) from 3.
“Offensively, we were great in the second half. That wasn’t the problem,” Daigneault said.
The problem was on the other end.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, the Kings, who have the best offensive rating in the league at 118 points per 100 possessions, outgunned them. The Kings shot 45-of-85 (52.9%) from the field and went 18-of-43 (41.9%) from 3.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, De’Aaron Fox provided the offensive fireworks. He finished with 33 points on 11-of-19 shooting and eight assists. Keegan Murray contributed with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Domantas Sabonis flirted with a triple-double: 14 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.
Outside of a third-quarter scare, the Kings outscored the Thunder, 88-75, in the other three quarters. An impressive display of high-octane offense from a team that came off a 176-point double overtime win against the LA Clippers.
“We knew obviously they came off a big game. They were feeling good, confident. They won a couple so they were rolling,” Josh Giddey said. “They kinda threw the first punch. … We kinda kept the game within reach for the most part. We made a late run in the end of the third (quarter) but then they got going in the fourth (quarter) and kinda blew it open a little bit. … We fought hard but just wasn’t enough tonight.”
For the first time since mid-December, the Thunder have lost three consecutive games and are winless since the All-Star break. A tough time to hit a skid as the Western Conference standings are jam-packed.
The loss drops the Thunder to 13th, 1.5 games out of 10th place in the Western Conference.
The Thunder will get a chance to redeem this loss as they play the Kings again on Tuesday to conclude the mini-baseball series.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.