The Thunder had absolutely no problem with the short handed Kings, leading by as much as 30 in a game where the final score does not show how out of hand it was.
When you look at the final score and see that the Kings only lost to the Thunder by 13, you'd think that was a pretty good job, especially considering that the team was playing without Isaiah Thomas and Derrick Williams. However, that score doesn't do this game justice.
The Thunder absolutely manhandled the Kings most of the night, leading by more than 30 points at one point. It was a blowout in every sense of the word. Kevin Durant scored 29 points on just 11 shots, and Russell Westbrook put up 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in just 24 and a half minutes. The only reason the score was as close as it was was because of a 4th quarter that saw the Kings bench outplay the Thunder bench by a margin of 30 to 12.
With Thomas absent again, the onus was on Cousins and Gay to pick up the slack. Cousins got off to a rough start though, missing most of the first half due to foul trouble, and when he did come back, the Thunder did a phenomenal job of covering him both on and off the ball. Cousins ended up with just 4 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes, one of his weakest performances all season. Gay didn't far much better with 7 points on 3-11 shooting.
Rookie Ben McLemore led the Kings in scoring with 18 points, but shot just 5-16 from the field (a solid 3-7 from downtown though). Travis Outlaw had 17 points on 6-13 shooting off the bench, and Jason Thompson had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Quincy Acy set a career-high in rebounds with 13. Ray McCallum got the start again for Thomas, and finished with 13 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 45 minutes. Both McCallum and McLemore played nearly the entire game.
The Kings as a whole shot just 36.5% from the field, which is surprisingly not the worst FG% of the year. They've shot worse three times this season, with the season low being 34.5% against Golden State early in the season.
The Kings now head on for another tough matchup against Dallas tomorrow night. Hopefully Isaiah Thomas will be back and ready for action, because right now this offense is a mess without him.
For the opposing perspective, visit Welcome to Loud City.