Sacramento Kings topple Oklahoma City Thunder with late surge for important 106 – 101 win – NBA Recap
The Sacramento Kings pulled off an astonishing win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Power Balance Pavilion on Thursday. The Kings didn’t show any fear while taking on the Western Conference leaders and put in a battling display, topping it off with
a late charge that handed them the 106 – 101 victory.
The win was and the fighting display that fuelled it didn’t come as a total surprise because the Kings have been improving steadily since a change of head coach. They have newfound belief in themselves and have showed it on more than one occasion now.
"We've improved as a team, we're on the right path now," said DeMarcus Cousins, whose bust up with Sacramento’s last coach was a major reason for the latter's firing. "We're a lot better than our record (10-16) shows. We've grown so much from the team we
used to be."
"I thrive on a team that creates high deflections because that gets you on a good level on nights when you're not scoring," said Keith Smart, who has been a breath of fresh air since taking over as head coach. "Deflections, steals and altered shots can get
you in the open court. We have some fabulous guys that can get out into the open court and make plays."
Sacramento turned in a solid team display, with everyone contributing. The pick of the bunch was perhaps Tyreke Evans, who scored a team high 22 points and had 5 assists. Cousins was impressive once again, collecting 19 points and 9 rebounds. Others who
made it into double figures included Marcus Thornton, 15 points, Jason Thompson, 11 points, and Donte Greene, 10 points.
Oklahoma City didn’t play badly either. They were led by livewire point guard Russell Westbrook, who scored a team high 33 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Kevin Durant scored 27 points to go along with 8 boards while James Harden came off the bench to net
17. Serge Ibaka also made quite an impact with 10 rejections.
Sacramento started off strongly and used an 11 – 2 run to get a foothold in the first period. They were on top for the rest of the segment as well but the Thunder were able to eat away at the deficit, reducing it to just 4 points at the end, 23 – 19.
The second quarter was a free flowing affair as both sides played with a reckless abandon that ensured plenty of highlights for the fans. With a total score running up to 70, it wasn’t a frame particularly pleasing for either defence. At halftime, the score
was 57 – 55 to the Kings.
Oklahoma City started off the second half with an 8 – 2 burst that put them ahead at 63 – 59. The lead did change hands again but the Thunder looked the stronger side overall and were up at 78 – 76 by the end.
The game had more twists and turns in the final quarter. The Kings started out strong but were soon overtaken by Oklahoma City. Just when it looked like the Thunder would be able to close the deal, up 95 – 87, Sacramento came screeching back with a ferocious
11 – 2 run that put their noses in front at 98 – 97.
A nerve wrecking last minute and a half saw some diligent Kings’ defence combine with poor offensive execution by OKC to hand the home side a 106 – 101 victory.
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