Sluggish Second Half Costs Kings In OKC
Feb 27, 2020, 7:48 PM | Updated: 7:49 pm
(Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
After leading by as much as 19, Sacramento couldn’t hold on against the Thunder
With the Sacramento Kings attempting to claw their way back into the playoff race, games like Thursday night in Oklahoma City are the ones that hurt the most.
After taking a double-digit lead into the half and leading by as many as 19 points, the Kings couldn’t contain the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second-half as they lost by a final of 112-108 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Sacramento got off to a great start, largely in thanks to a big first half from Harry Giles III. Giles scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half to help lead the Kings to a 61-50 lead at halftime.
The Kings would keep applying pressure, taking a 80-63 lead mid-way through the third-quarter. But that big lead would be short-lived.
Oklahoma City responded with a 15-0 run to close the gap, eventually cutting the deficit to 1 heading into the final period. Sacramento defenders got sloppy in the first two-minutes of the final quarter, committing five fouls to put the Thunder in the bonus for nearly the entirety of the fourth-quarter.
Danillo Gallinari and the Thunder wouldn’t squander the opportunity, doing most of their damage late at the free-throw line to snap the Kings’ three-game winning-streak.
Playing without the services of De’Aaron Fox, the Kings were shorthanded on Thursday night in Oklahoma City on the first night of a back-to-back. Cory Joseph got the start at point-guard, finishing with six points and 11 assists in his place.
Fox is considered questionable for Friday’s game in Memphis due to a lower abdominal injury.
Alex Len had another strong game for Sacramento, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with 11 points and a block. Harrison Barnes was the Kings leading scorer with 21 points, while Nemanja Bjelica added 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting to go along with nine rebounds.
Buddy Hield chipped in with 15 points off of the bench, hitting five-of-nine three-point attempts in the losing effort.
For the Thunder, Gallinari finished with 24 points, while Shai Giligeous-Alexander contributed 20 points in Oklahoma City’s 37th win of the season.
Coming Up
Sacramento will play their biggest game of the season thus far on Friday night when they face the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
The Kings are looking to gain ground in the Western Conference playoff race, trailing the Grizzlies by four games for the eighth and final spot with 24 games remaining in the regular season.
Catch all of the action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, starting with pregame coverage at 4:30pm with tip-off following at 5:00pm.
