OKC Thunder Comeback Falls Short in Wire-to-Wire Loss in Sacramento

The Thunder stayed close the entire game, but getting a lead eluded them for all 48 minutes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stayed within striking distance all night but got over the hump in a wire-to-wire loss.

The Thunder fell to the Sacramento Kings 105-98 in their second In-Season Tournament. Critical mistakes by the Thunder in the closing minutes ended any possibility of a comeback.

Keegan Murray scored nine consecutive points for the Kings from the end of the third quarter into the fourth as part of a 17-6 run that pushed the lead to 13. The Thunder cut the lead to single digits again, but a Jaylin Williams flagrant foul resulted in a five-point play for the Kings that the Thunder never fully recovered from.

Murray hit a couple of 3-pointers in that stretch and ended as Sacramento’s second-leading scorer with 24 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander extended his streak of 30-point games to three after his 14-of-25 shooting night got him to 33. Along with the scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander added seven rebounds and six assists.

Kevin Huerter was the engine for the Kings' offense early, with 15 first-quarter points. Huerter finished as the Kings’ leading scorer with 28, including four 3-pointers.

Domantas Sabonis was a driving force for Sacramento as his all-star teammate, De’Aaron Fox, missed another game due to injury. Sabonis finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists for his first triple-double of the season.

Although Sabonis got the best of him, Holmgren held his own against the former Thunder big man. Holmgren finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, but turnovers and a missed free throw late spoiled his night.

While it has been a bright spot for the Thunder this season, 3-point shooting was a struggle against the Kings. The Thunder shot 7-of-30 from beyond the arc, an overall improvement from their 1-of-16 first-half performance.

Oklahoma City trailed by as much as 17 in the first half before cutting the deficit to 11 at halftime. While Sacramento’s lead reached 14 again in the first few minutes of the third, it did not last.

A Nick Collison-esque bounce pass from Jaylin Williams to Gilgeous-Alexander for a layup in the third quarter started the Thunder’s climb back into the game. The deficit shrunk to as little as two points before the Thunder entered the fourth down by five.

The Thunder’s starting lineup did heavy lifting in the first half, scoring all 42 points before halftime. But the Thunder’s bench unit made a more significant impact in the second half behind a nine-point performance from Isaiah Joe.

The Thunder continues their road trip in Phoenix on Sunday in their first matchup with the Suns this season.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.