OKLAHOMA CITY — Tapping the brakes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sent Keon Ellis sliding for the sidestep 3-pointer. The highlight outside shot capped off a much-needed afternoon for OKC.
The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back with a 127-113 win over the Sacramento Kings. It snapped a two-game losing streak for them and marked their first win over Sacramento since Nov. 2021.
“I thought we were just a lot more edgy today than we were yesterday,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s not about responding to one game, it’s certainly is about us recognizing where our standards are and getting the car back on the road when we’re not up to par.”
After a slow start plagued the Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, they emphasized getting off to a strong start for the second day of this back-to-back.
The Thunder led 29-27 following the first frame. At halftime, that lead grew to 67-57. A mammoth 22-6 run in the third quarter by OKC saw it enter the final frame leading by 17 points and totaled 100 points in the first three frames.
To start the fourth quarter, the Kings made one last push to make it a single-digit contest. A 20-10 run by Sacramento chopped OKC’s lead to seven points with a little over seven minutes left.
This proved to be the closest the Kings would get the rest of the way as Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams shut the door of a comeback attempt with elite shot-making.
The guard-wing duo combined for 70 points on 61% shooting. Overall, OKC shot 54% from the field and 13-of-27 (48.1%) from 3. They dished out 30 assists on 46 baskets.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points while Williams tallied a nearly 32-point triple-double. Chet Holmgren contributed with 14 points and four blocks. Lu Dort contributed with 17 points and stout defense.
“Those guys are advantage creators,” Daigneault said on Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. “Shai tonight, I thought they got really aggressive with him with double teams, which volunteers an advantage. It allows to get the ball ahead of the defense. I thought we had good attacks off of that for the most part.”
Meanwhile, the Kings shot 49% from the field and went 16-of-42 (38.1%) from 3. They had 32 assists on 44 baskets. Six Kings players scored double-digit points.
Domantas Sabonis led the way with a triple-double of 21 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds. Malik Monk scored 26 points and went 6-of-10 from 3. Keegan Murray had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox was limited to 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting and five assists. Kevin Huerter had four points on 2-of-7 shooting.
“Just make it tough for him,” Dort said on limiting Fox. “Especially after a game like yesterday where I feel like I didn’t do my job right.”
This was a nice palate cleanser for the Thunder after their disaster loss to the Mavericks on Saturday. OKC snapped an eight-game losing streak to Sacramento in a contest it controlled for the entire day.
“We came out really good today,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think it set the tone for the rest of the night. We played to our identity from the job.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Getting to his spots with ease, Gilgeous-Alexander had another monster scoring performance for the Thunder in their win.
In 39 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting, seven assists and three rebounds. He shot 3-of-4 from 3 and went an uncharacteristic 5-of-9 from the free-throw line.
The Kings couldn’t contain the All-Star starter as he scored 18 points inside of the paint. He buried several jumpers in the fourth quarter to seal the win for OKC.
After their loss to the Mavericks, Gilgeous-Alexander said they have to play better in afternoon tips. He led by example with 15 points in the first quarter. Closing it out, he scored nine points in the final frame as he played the final eight minutes.
“I just try to turn the tide a little bit from the jump,” Gilgeous-Alexander on their improved defensive performance. “I think it carried over.”
SGA finds space 🛸 pic.twitter.com/DEDx1689KP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
J-Dub with the 🪙#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/ZM0ZSgICbM
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
Vintage SGA 😎#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/uxuvEPhvqM
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
Classic SGA steal and slam 💥 pic.twitter.com/8zMo15xF07
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
SGA up and over 💪#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/I9LxYsvoNe
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
16-0 run in the 3rd after this bucket from SGA ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/O1BIzdDLfQ
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
Jalen Williams: A-plus
Just like Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams was a scoring machine in OKC’s win. He finished with 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting, nine assists and eight rebounds in 37 minutes. He shot 2-of-4 from 3.
After a slow first quarter, Williams turned it up in the second frame with 15 points on several self-created jumpers to balloon OKC’s lead to double digits.
With Gilgeous-Alexander’s early return in the fourth quarter, it made it easy for Williams to score nine points as Sacramento’s defense primarily focused on the All-Star starter.
The Kings couldn’t limit Williams when he attacked the rim. The 22-year-old scored 20 points inside of the paint.
After being held to nine points the day before, Williams headlined OKC’s improved outing for the second game of this back-to-back with a monster 32-point performance.
“The way we lost, a lot of it was our identity, we played slow, we didn’t defend well,” Williams said on dissecting the back-to-back. “A lot of that we knew was pretty fixable.”
End to end action 🎬 pic.twitter.com/F0Qaygi44U
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
City Nights slam 😤 pic.twitter.com/SVXdyMS54B
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
J-Dub get up 😤#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/d3yX3em1D2
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
Mr. 4th Quarter 😎#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/PLF58Bz5GJ
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
Thunder basketball ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/vYIh9DOcG1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
Chet Holmgren: B-plus
The day before, the Mavericks got whatever they wanted inside of the paint. Holmgren made sure that wasn’t the case for the Kings. They were limited to 44 points on 56% shooting in that area.
In 31 minutes, Holmgren had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, four rebounds and four blocks. All four swats occurred in the first quarter as he helped set the tone defensively after allowing 146 points to Dallas the day before.
After being hit with a knee on the thigh by Harrison Barnes in the first half, that didn’t slow down the 21-year-old in the second half with eight points. It was a much better outing for the rookie center.
JDub sticks with it 💪 pic.twitter.com/OPGf0bg2aF
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
Chet with the putback 🔨#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/MN2NdM3kxC
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 11, 2024
Up, up, and away ⁰⁰@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/FZCC3dTpZ9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 11, 2024
Lu Dort: A
After a pair of quiet games for Dort, he had an efficient outing on both sides of the ball for the Thunder in this win.
In 33 minutes, Dort had 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, nine rebounds and three steals. The streaky shooter was hot tonight, going 3-of-5 from 3. He also went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line and was a game-high plus-31.
Dort also helped the Thunder limit the Kings’ backcourt. — Fox had 15 points on 17 shots while Huerter had four points. A much better outing considering what Luke Doncic and Kyrie Irving did to OKC 24 hours ago.
“I thought Lu did a good job on (Fox), in the first half especially,” Daigneault said. “We got him, really under control there. He has gotten loose against us. He’s shot the ball incredibly well this season… He’s given us trouble obviously in the past, but I thought we did a good job on him today — Lu and then everybody else in the help.”
The Thunder will need Dort to continue to hit outside shots at a similar clip if they want their best versions of themselves. The 24-year-old starter will continue to receive quality looks from deep.
