Sacramento is back in the win column
The Sacramento Kings got back in the win column with a 117-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.
After a tightly contested first half, the Kings largely controlled the second half, leading by as many 17 points in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma City rallied to make the final score more respectable, but at no point in the second half did it feel like the Kings were going to lose this game.
The Thunder were playing short-handed without their head coach, Mark Daigneault and several key players, but kudos to the Kings for finally taking advantage of a disadvantaged team that they should beat.
In large part, the Kings’ performance was largely influenced by their 43.6% shooting from three-point range.
One of their best shooters from distance, Tyrese Haliburton had a tremendous performance, finishing with a team-high 24 points while making five of his eight three-point attempts.
After struggling for the better part of two months, Buddy Hield put together one of his best performances of late, finishing with an efficient 21 points.
Shout out to Damian Jones, who continued to bring his energy and athleticism, scoring nine points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Jones’ play continues to indicate that he should be the Kings’ primary backup big man ahead of Alex Len and Tristan Thompson.
Sacramento was able to secure a win despite De’Aaron Fox shooting an abysmal four of 17 four 12 points on Tuesday. Luckily, the Kings got enough outside contributions that Fox’s struggles didn’t impact the outcome.
Tuesday was a step in the right direction for the Kings, but this team really needs to string together a few weeks of solid play before anyone starts believing in the overall direction.
The Kings will be back on the court in less than 24 hours as they face the Dallas Mavericks who will be without Luka Doncic and others due to COVID-19 protocols.