NBA
Thunder Throttle the Kings In Sacramento 132-113
The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business on the road, despite losing both Dennis Schroder and Raymond Felton to a one-game suspension. The Thunder defeated the Sacramento Kings 132-113 with some dominate performances from the starting lineup. They improved their record to 20-10 and are back up to the second seed in the Western Conference.
The Thunder have struggled against teams with an above .500 record. However, it was a different story on Wednesday night. They smothered the Kings in every facet of the game and took the game over in the second quarter. The Thunder outscored the Kings 35-19 in the period. Even though the Kings cut the lead to eight in the third quarter, there was no answer to stopping the Thunder’s offense, especially Paul George.
Paul George Was Unstoppable
George found every way imaginable to score on the Kings, leading the Thunder to victory. Whether it was his three-point shot, jumper or dunking on people, George found a way. He ended the night with 43 points on 15-27 shooting from the field and 4-8 from 3-point range. Let’s not forget he also had 12 rebounds and seven assists and was a plus-29 for the Thunder.
In the three meetings they have already had against each other, George has had 27 and 29 points respectably. It seems that he likes to play against the Kings, even though prior games were losses for the Thunder. George had everything going for him last night and no matter what defender was on him, you were better off not trying.
Steven Adams is Dominant
So, Steven Adams was insane last night. Adams grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds, nine of them were on the offensive glass. Willie Cauley-Stein had the worst time of his life trying to box Adams out. He lived in the paint and had 21 points to go along with the absurd amount of rebounds.
The way Adams makes it so effortless to grab a rebound is astonishing. Even the Kings broadcast team was in awe of how Adams was dominating everyone in the paint. The Thunder ended up with 60 points in the paint, and a good portion of those points came from him. If Adams can keep it up, he just might make his first All-Star appearance this season in Charlotte.
Russell Westbrook’s Contributions
Of course, Russell Westbrook ended the night on a triple-double; 19 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds. But that wasn’t the most important thing Westbrook did last night. He also added six of team’s eight steals which helped the transition game.
As of late, Westbrook’s shooting has been very bad, especially from the free-throw line. That didn’t change much last night. He shot 8-19 from the field and 2-7 from the free-throw line. However, the one thing that Westbrook has changed this year is his awareness.
He knew that his shot wasn’t falling, despite giving Yogi Ferrell and Buddy Hield the rock-a-bye baby move. So instead of trying to shoot his way out of a funk, he gave the ball to guys who had their shot, which was just about everybody.
The Way of the Thunder
The key to this win for the Thunder was the astounding rebound numbers. They ended the game 66 rebounds. That is absurd. No team is going to win the game when you let the opponent grab 66 rebounds.
The Thunder also let it be known defensively there are here to play and put the work in at the start of the second quarter. The Kings only scored 19 points and they took some very poor shots. They ranked first in defensive rating for a reason, because of the lock-down defenders they have.
Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson helped the big-three out by tying their season-high in scoring (22 and 14 respectively). Alex Albrines helped out as well hitting three of his three-pointers. Even without Schroder, they managed to drop 132 points.
Westbrook vs. Fox beef?
Before the game, De’Aaron Fox mentioned that “he is the fastest player in the game.” He name-dropped Stephen Curry and Westbrook as examples of who he’s faster than.
So naturally in Westbrook’s competitive state, he had to let it be known he might still be the fastest. In the second quarter, Wesbrook rebounded the ball and ran full-court, drove past every defender and made the layup and got the foul. He yelled down to the Kings bench “I’m still fast.” He was letting someone know that he still has that quickness.
Other Information
Fox ended the game with 28 points and 12 assists on 10-18 shooting from the field. Buddy Hield also had a pretty solid game, dropping 37 points and hitting seven three-pointers. There wasn’t enough help from the others for a whole 48 minutes to get the job done as they fall to 16-15.
The Thunder will get ready for Saturday as they play the Utah Jazz in what should be an intense battle.
Photo Credit
Highlight Store via Flickr
Writer Brandan Verrastro
