Three Takeaways From the OKC Thunder's Failed Comeback Against the Kings

The Thunder never held a lead as they fell to 0-2 in the In-Season Tournament.

The Oklahoma City Thunder trailed early and never held a lead in their second In-Season Tournament game.

Oklahoma City fell, 105-98, in an unexpectedly low-scoring game against the Sacramento Kings. In the Thunder’s first road game against a Western Conference team, they could not overcome poor shooting and sloppy play.

Without De’Aaron Fox, this was a winnable game for the Thunder, as they came into the game as the favorite. But a team effort from three key Kings sunk the Thunder.

Domantas Sabonis had a stellar first half on his way to his first triple-double this season. Meanwhile, Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray combined for 52 points to bolster the Kings’ scoring attack.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another good performance despite the loss. He ended with 33 points and showed his defensive abilities with two blocks and two steals.

Let’s dive into three lessons that can be learned from yesterday’s game:

Alonzo Adams / USA Today

The Thunder needs to have better starts on the road

Playing from behind and making comebacks is a familiar situation for the Thunder. That is how they played many times last season and a couple of times early this season.

But in winnable games on the road like this one in Sacramento, coming out flat is not an option. Without Fox, Sacramento has struggled to find its identity and has played poorly in those games.

Against the Thunder, the Kings came out firing and quickly got out to a double-digit advantage. Already in a tough place to play, the Thunder’s early lack of focus led to a deficit they could never overcome.

Playing like that in Phoenix or Golden State in upcoming games will likely have the same results.

More shooters need to hit from outside

The Thunder’s shooting has been an up-and-down area throughout the season, including a 7-of-30 performance on Friday. Of those seven makes, they came from just three shooters.

While only three players made their shots from beyond the arc, all 10 who saw the floor attempted at least one. Many looks were open, but the conversion rate was concerningly low.

Including this game, the Thunder has shot worse than 40% from 3-point range three times this season, all losses. While everyone being willing to shoot from outside is a good sign, if they do not hit, it becomes an issue that permeates throughout the entire roster in any given game.

The end of the rotation needs work

The Thunder’s bench was a significant issue against the Kings. The Thunder’s reserves were scoreless at halftime, and no players reached 10 points.

But the more pressing issue was the lack of smaller contributions. Those contributions are almost guaranteed from Aaron Wiggins, who did not see the floor on Friday.

Instead, Lindy Waters played nearly 20 minutes while registering only two assists, two missed 3-point shots and a foul. Kenrich Williams’ eventual return will help with that, but until then, the Thunder needs others to step up.

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Poor decisions and underwhelming play killed the Thunder’s comeback bid, but there were some bright spots to build on. Despite the wire-to-wire loss, the Thunder never allowed the lead to get out of reach, which will be a valuable tool in the next few games.

The Thunder continues a brief two-game road trip in Phoenix on Sunday as they play the Suns for the first time this season.

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