All five Sacramento starts finished in double figures.
The Sacramento Kings finally won a game with some relative comfort Saturday, defeating the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder, 113-103 on Saturday.
The Thunder were without nearly half of their team including key players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort, but nonetheless, kudos to the Kings for beating a team that they should have.
Oklahoma City was playing a lot of fringe NBA players in the game, so it made sense to see Sacramento control the majority of the game like they did.
All five of Sacramento’s starters scored in double figures, making major contributions to the victory, each in their own way.
Davion Mitchell continued his strong play as a starter, finishing with 17 points in addition to his typically stellar defense. Mitchell’s starting backcourt mate, Tyrese Haliburton was masterful in orchestrating the Sacramento offense, finishing with a career-high 17 assists in the game.
With De’Aaron Fox sidelined for the last couple of weeks, the Haliburton and Mitchell backcourt is looking like it can be a long-term fit next to each other in Sacramento.
Harrison Barnes put together one of his better scoring performances in recent weeks finishing with a team-high 24 points.
Moe Harkless had perhaps the best performance of his Kings career, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds along with a pair of powerful dunks. Harkless has been mainly out of the rotation over the last month or so, but it’s good to see him proving he deserves more consistent playing time.
After Saturday, the Kings are just two games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the 10th seed and a spot in the play-in tournament. Sacramento’s poor 20-35 record coupled with their proximity to postseason play puts them in an interesting quandary in the days leading up to the deadline. Are they buyers or sellers?
The Kings will next get the suddenly hot Minnesota Timberwolves for a home back to back on Tuesday and Wednesday.