Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 43 Points Not Enough to Help OKC Thunder Defeat Kings

A seemingly normal finish to the game turned into a stressful one, with the Thunder coming close to stealing a victory in Sacramento, but ultimately falling late.

Although it nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback, the Oklahoma City Thunder fell short to the Sacramento Kings, 126-123.

It seemed as if Sacramento was going to close out the game without a problem, but Oklahoma City fought its way back into the game to keep the tension high in Golden 1 Center until the final buzzer. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carried much of the Thunder offense tonight, scoring 43 points, six rebounds, nine assists and two steals on 13-of-27 shooting. He was able to get to the free-throw line at will, knocking down 16-of-18 attempts. 

De'Aaron Fox rivaled Gilgeous-Alexander's 43 points with 41 of his own, making for a special battle between two of the NBA's best guards. 

Josh Giddey had a fantastic night, contributing a large part of Oklahoma City's late fourth quarter comeback. He recorded 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals on 8-of-14 shooting, arguably his best performance of the entire season. 

Jalen Williams had his most frustrating game of the season, failing to find the bottom of the net all game. The sophomore scored just five points on 2-of-14 shooting, a rare off-night. 

Oklahoma City struggled to really ever get significant scoring momentum outside of the final few minutes, going through several cold streaks throughout the contest. It shot just 43% from the field and 29.7% from behind the arc, but its 24-of-27 night from the free-throw line helped keep itself within reasonable distance from the lead for most of the contest. 

In the first 1:13 of the game, Gilgeous-Alexander caused Keegan Murray to pick up two fouls, causing early foul trouble for Sacramento. The Thunder started the first quarter slow otherwise, but began to pick up steam towards the middle. 

Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to get a few easy shots to fall, but still finished the quarter with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line, nearly half of Oklahoma City's 30 points. 

The Thunder offense came to a halt in the second quarter, struggling immensely to score the ball against the Kings defense. It was outscored 30-to-23, only shooting 34.8% from the field in the entire first half. 

Sabonis was a force in the half, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Similar to the first meeting of the season between Oklahoma City and Sacramento, his rebounding and scoring ability proved difficult to match up against in the paint. 

Giddey came out firing away in the third quarter, scoring a quick 10 points in the first four minutes. It was a much needed wake-up after an underwhelming first half, giving Gilgeous-Alexander some room to breathe offensively.

The Kings didn't slow down either though, with the likes of Fox and Malik Monk hitting big shots all throughout the quarter. The Thunder cut it within two points, but a late Sacramento scoring push gave it an eight-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, capped off by a deep 3-pointer from Fox.

Slightly less than a minute into the fourth, Mark Daigneault called a timeout after Oklahoma City gave up a quick five points. Sacramento continued to keep the pressure on the Thunder, not letting up from its dominance behind the arc. 

After a successful challenge by Oklahoma City, momentum began to finally swing its way. The Thunder strung together a series of buckets and fastbreak opportunities in a 13-2 run, putting itself within two points with three minutes remaining. 

Both teams went back and forth into the very end, with the Thunder continuing to claw at the Kings by making critical plays. This included a sleek cut by Holmgren for an easy dunk with four seconds left, but Murray put the game away for Sacramento by knocking down both of its final two free throws.

The Thunder will continue on the road to face the reigning NBA Champion Denver Nuggets for the second time this season on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8:00 p.m. CT. 

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