With a decent look from the corner, Josh Giddey had a chance to cut the Oklahoma City Thunder’s deficit to three points. Instead, the 21-year-old’s attempt came up short.
In a 105-98 loss to the Sacramento Kings, this was the theme for the Thunder. After trailing by as many as 17 points, OKC had several opportunities in the second half to mount a comeback.
Instead, the Thunder came as close as two points in the second half but ultimately failed to complete the comeback as they never led in the entire game. The seven-point loss knocks OKC’s in-season tournament group play record to 0-2.
“First-quarter defense, first-half offense and movement just wasn’t where it needed to be,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about the loss. “They came out way more urgent in the game on both ends of the floor so they deserved that one.”
The Kings got off to a hot start as they led 34-20 following the first quarter. OKC managed to cut the deficit in the middle quarters as it entered the final frame with some momentum as a Lu Dort buzzer-beating 3-pointer trimmed Sacramento’s lead to 75-70.
“In the first quarter, (we) spotted them a pretty good lead in controllable stuff defensively,” Daigneault said on the slow start. “I thought it took us a long time to get our game plan into the game with a level of urgency that we needed to have it.”
Despite the poor ending to the third quarter, the Kings rallied and started the fourth quarter on an 11-3 run — which included three consecutive 3-pointers — in the opening three minutes to push their lead back to double-digits.
“We had it in a good place, we got it to down to five,” Daigneault said of the start of the fourth quarter. “Lu hit that shot that kept it at five. We were in striking distance with 12 to play. Just didn’t get off to the start that we wanted to.”
OKC gave up the fourth-quarter run with Lindy Waters III on the floor, who played a season-high 19 minutes. He was held scoreless and had just two assists. Entering Friday, the two-way player totaled five minutes in three appearances this season.
Questions arose about Daigneault’s decision to play Waters III heavy minutes in a winnable game, but the coach revealed it was a predetermined decision.
“He was a really critical part of our team last year,” Daigneault said about Waters III. “… I’d been kinda marking a game where I thought he’d be good.”
It was a bogged-down, low-scoring contest for both teams in this in-season tournament game. The Thunder shot 45% from the field but went an icy 7-of-30 (23.3%) from 3. Ball security was a problem as OKC committed 17 turnovers that resulted in 23 points for the Kings.
“We missed a lot of good looks,” Giddey said. “I thought — myself included — turned the ball over too many times… Just one of those nights where you can’t make shots and they make a few more than you do and win the game.”
Outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 33 points, points were difficult to produce for the Thunder. The other four Thunder starters were a negative-11 or worse in their time on the court.
Meanwhile, the Kings shot 42% from the field but played the number game with the outside shot as they went 13-of-47 (27.7%). The efficiency wasn’t there but the sheer volume helped give Sacramento a notable advantage from deep.
Rebounding continues to be a concern for OKC. It allowed the Kings to grab 16 offensive boards — 11 more than its own amount. This resulted in 23 second-chance points for the Kings in a seven-point game. The Thunder are 25th in the league in rebounds at 41.3 per game.
The Kings — who were without De’Aaron Fox for a fifth consecutive game due to an ankle sprain — had Domantas Sabonis step up in their pivotal win. The multi-time All-Star collected a triple-double of 17 points, 13 assists and 13 rebounds.
Kevin Huerter led the Kings in scoring with 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting. Keegan Murray had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Overall, it wasn’t a good day in the office for the Thunder. Just from the opening minutes, it felt like this was going to be one of those types of nights for OKC where things didn’t go its way.
To the Thunder’s credit, they made it interesting during several points in the second half instead of simply laying down and taking the loss. Alas, those runs went in vain and OKC couldn’t escape a poor night with a win.
“They went out and got that game,” Daigneault said. “I thought they outplayed us tonight from the jump. That was the difference in the game. They were the more ready team.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.