Thunder Fall to White-Hot Sacramento Kings, 118-113

After an extremely hard-fought match, the Oklahoma City Thunder couldn't find their fourth-straight road victory against the hot Sacramento Kings.

Heading into Friday night’s match versus De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and the rolling Sacramento Kings, the Oklahoma City Thunder sought their fourth straight road victory, but wouldn’t find it.

Oklahoma City found themselves up at the break after hitting 12-of-21 of their 3-pointers in the first half, but Sacramento would come out swinging after halftime, led by number four overall pick, Keegan Murray, and hold on to win, 118-113.

The Thunder jumped out to a 9-0 lead to kick off the first frame on the back of Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey before the Kings finally put two points on the board.

But Sacramento would quickly counter, ramping up their offense to catch up after 3-pointers from De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, and Murray cut the Thunder’s lead to just two, 20-18.

The Thunder would attempt to extend the lead back to nine multiple times behind Gilgeous-Alexander and a 3-pointer from Isaiah Joe, but the Kings wouldn’t go away as they were able to gain the lead in the final seconds of the quarter, 33-32, behind Fox and Murray’s 19 combined points.

Luguentz Dort kicked off the second frame by drilling two 3-pointers, scoring six straight points to put the Thunder back on top, 38-33, and forcing a Sacramento timeout.

Isaiah Joe would quickly pile on, adding another 3-pointer but an and-one by Malik Monk and a wide open dunk by Trey Lyles would cut the Thunder’s lead to just one, 41-40. Joe would proceed to bury another triple and a layup plus a technical free throw by Dort would extend the Thunder’s lead to six, 48-42.

Joe’s fourth three-pointer of the night would give the Thunder another nine-point lead, but the offense of Huerter and Sabonis that would prevent the Kings’ deficit from growing. Despite their offensive surge, the Thunder headed into halftime up 66-59 after Josh Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander each found a triple in the last minute.

The Kings quickly erased the Thunder’s lead coming out of the break, going on an 8-1 run to go up 67-66 after Dort fouled Fox on a 3-point attempt to give him three free throws. A pair of looks in the paint by Jaylin Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander would end the Kings’ big run, but things got knotted up 76-76 as Sacramento’s offense continued to catch fire, capped off by a sweet mid-range jumper by Gilgeous-Alexander and a momentous dunk by Murray.

Sacramento would eventually find themselves in the bonus and four Sabonis free throws later and an above-the-break triple from Davion Mitchell would fuel a 10-5 run to give the Kings a five-point advantage down the stretch, 86-81.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Mike Muscala would quickly answer with their own 7-1 run to tie things back up, capping off a 22-point Thunder quarter, but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Fox would put the Kings back on top, 91-88, headed into the final frame.

A missed layup by Jalen Williams would turn into Kings’ head coach challenging a call after the officials issued a foul on Sacramento after Kenrich Williams attempted to putback the miss. The challenge would ultimately be deemed unsuccessful and Williams would proceed to miss both free throws.

A mid-range jumper and hard-earned free throws by Jalen Williams would bring the Thunder within one, 94-95, but the two-man game of Sabonis and Fox would keep the Kings’ offense humming towards another five-point lead with just eight minutes remaining.

A backdoor cut led to an easy layup by Gilgeous-Alexander and an almost-turnover that turned into a 3-pointer by Joe gave the Thunder a quick five points, but the Kings’ Murray would hit three back-to-back 3-pointers to nullify Oklahoma City’s push and have Sacramento up 108-100 with less than five minutes to go.

The Thunder would tighten up late in the game, making plays to give themselves a chance at a comeback, including a seventh 3-pointer by Joe to cut the lead to three late, but a victory wouldn’t be in the cards and the Kings would find their seventh straight win, 118-113.

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