SACRAMENTO – Russell Westbrook had another big game against one of his former teams, but without big man Domantas Sabonis, the Kings spent most of the night on their heels in a 132-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at Golden 1 Center.
Westbrook racked up 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists, falling just shy of adding to his NBA-record list of triple-doubles.
DeMar DeRozan had 18 points and five rebounds, while Drew Eubanks had a respectable night with 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Malik Monk added 15 points with three 3-pointers in the first group-play game of the NBA Cup in-season tournament.
The Kings (3-6) lost to the Thunder (9-1) less than two weeks ago when they had a healthy Sabonis, while Oklahoma City was without Chet Holmgren.
The tables were flipped on Friday, but the result was the same.
The Thunder held a dominant 60-34 advantage in the paint, led by center Isaiah Hartenstein, who finished with a game-high 33 points on 14 of 17 shooting from the field.
It didn’t help Sacramento that OKC came to town with a chip on its shoulder. The Thunder were coming off their lone loss of the season when they lost to the Trail Blazers in Portland on Wednesday.
Here are the takeaways from the Kings’ loss:
Doing without Domas
With the 6-foot-10 Sabonis not in uniform, the Kings were without their last line of defense and the Thunder were all too willing to try to take advantage.
The plan to go right at the heart of Sacramento’s D got off to a strong start, as the Thunder easily made their way deep into the paint and scored without much resistance. At one point, they had doubled the Kings’ production down low.
Kings coach Doug Christie tried several different options to fix the situation. Eubanks started and played 24 minutes. Newly signed Precious Achiuwa came off the bench with four points and three boards while rookie Max Raynaud rounded out Sac’s group of big men.
Russ against his old team
It has been seven years since Westbrook wore an OKC jersey but it’s clear he has a little extra juice every time he faces the Thunder.
The nine-time All-Star, who played his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder, is the franchise scoring leader and all-time leader in triple-doubles. He came out roaring against his former team at Golden 1 Center. He made three 3-pointers and had 11 points in the first quarter and made good on 8 of 16 shots after his first attempt of the night was blocked by Chet Holmgren.
That was pretty much on par with what Westbrook had done against the Thunder in the past. Going into the night, he had an average of 18.8 points, 7.1 assists and 7.5 rebounds in 19 games against Oklahoma City.
Schroder shut down
It was a rough night for Dennis Schroder, at least when it came to scoring.
The 32-year-old point guard missed all 10 shots he took, including five misses from behind the arc. A minus-25 for the night, Schroder finished with two points and eight assists.
One of the Kings’ top offseason acquisitions, Schroder had been one of the team’s most consistent scorers through the first two weeks of the season, reaching double digits in scoring for six of Sacramento’s first eight games.
But Friday wasn’t Schroder’s night.
