OKLAHOMA CITY — Much like their last meeting two days prior, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a third consecutive game, struggled against the Sacramento Kings in a 123-117 loss.
Outside of the two opening points, the Thunder never led against the Kings. The Thunder concluded their season series against the Kings with an 0-3 record.
Outside of Dario Saric and Jalen Williams, it was a tough night for the Thunder, especially Josh Giddey and Lu Dort. The duo were a minu-32 and minus-28, respectively, when on the court in limited time.
The duo averaged 20 minutes in the loss but according to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, their below-average playing time was more about other players on the roster.
“It’s never an indictment on the guy that’s not playing. It’s always usually a reward for the guys that are,” Daigneault said. “First of all, Josh and Lu are important players for us. They’ve been important players for us. They’re going to be important players for us.
“I think when you’ve got 82 games — and we’re building on a timeline much longer than 82 games — I think guys on the team feeling like they can touch the outcome of the games and add value and add impact to the team is important and part of that is us rewarding opportunity when they do that.”
After trailing by as many as 17 points, the Thunder reserves tied the game at 98. Unfortunately, the Kings outscored the Thunder, 25-19, during the remaining 8:50.
“(The bench) turned the tone of the game. I thought they gave good resistance,” Daigneault said. “They were physical. Moved the ball on offense. I thought a lot of good things happened once they were out there.”
Without De’Aaron Fox, the Kings starters stepped up in their All-Star guard’s absence as all five scored at least 13 points.
Harrison Barnes scored a quiet 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Domantas Sabonis finished with another near triple double of 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Kevin Huerter scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and had nine assists.
The Kings continue to show why they’re ranked first in offensive rating as they went 43-of-82 (52.4%) from the field and 15-of-42 (35.7%) from 3.
Despite the Thunder taking 16 more shot attempts than the Kings, the extra attempts never translated to the scoreboard due to high-efficiency scoring from the latter.
The Thunder are winless since the All-Star break and have their first four-game losing streak since mid-December. With losses piling up, the Thunder are 1.5 games out of 10th place in the Western Conference.
If the Thunder want to cling onto their playoff hopes, they need Gilgeous-Alexander to return sooner rather than later.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.