Kings-Thunder Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Dec 13 2012 4:03PM

The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the verge of the franchise's best start and longest win streak since its days in the Pacific Northwest. A visit from the Sacramento Kings would appear to give them a prime opportunity to accomplish both feats.

The Thunder will seek a 10th consecutive victory Friday night while trying to add to their recent dominance over the Kings.

Oklahoma City has matched its 18-4 start from last season and hasn't had a better one as a franchise since winning 20 of its first 22 games in 1993-94 as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Thunder have gotten there with a nine-game win streak that's one shy of its longest since a string of 11 consecutive victories Nov. 7-24, 1996.

Oklahoma City, though, had to fight to keep its current run going Wednesday against Western Conference-worst New Orleans. The Thunder trailed by 11 points with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter before rallying for a 92-88 win, their eighth in a row at home.

"We were making the right plays. We just weren't finishing shots," said Kevin Durant, who scored 35 points. "We knew that was going to be a long game so we stuck with it on the defensive end and had faith in our offense and were able to make some shots."

Durant's team now looks to have an easier time against the West's second-worst club.The Thunder had a 12-game streak of triple-digit scoring performances snapped Wednesday against the last-place Hornets, but they've topped the century mark in each of their last six games against Sacramento (7-14).

Oklahoma City has not faced the Kings since beating them three times in April. The Thunder have won 12 of the past 14 meetings overall and are unbeaten in seven home matchups since relocating from Seattle.

The Kings don't appear poised to end that drought as they're 1-8 on the road and have cooled off following a season-high three consecutive wins.

"We better be ready to play," guard Aaron Brooks said. "We've got a tough task ahead of us, but I've seen stranger stuff happen so we have to come out and play hard.

After allowing fewer than 83 points in victories over Orlando and Portland last week, Sacramento couldn't contain Dallas and Milwaukee in road defeats this week.

The Kings allowed the Bucks to score 30 points in the final period Wednesday and pull away for a 98-85 victory. That followed their season high for points allowed in a 119-96 loss to Dallas on Monday.

Tyreke Evans had a team-best 17 points off the bench in Milwaukee while playing for the second time since Nov. 29. Evans, dealing with a sore left knee, was one of only three Kings to score in double figures as the team shot 37.2 percent.

"It felt good to be back. Hopefully, I can get into a rhythm in the next game and play better," Evans said.

Sacramento could get a boost with the expected return of leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins from a suspension. Cousins, averaging 17.2 points and 9.9 boards, was forced to sit out one game for hitting Dallas' O.J. Mayo in the groin during Monday's loss.

Cousins, who was suspended for two games earlier this season, had 32 points in the Kings' most recent matchup with Oklahoma City, a 118-110 road loss April 24. Durant also scored 32 in that game despite missing 12 of 19 shots and is averaging 29.8 in his last five games in the series.

Sacramento's top reserve, Marcus Thornton, missed Wednesday's game due to personal reasons and is unlikely to play in this contest.

Thunder win 10th straight, 113-103 over Sacramento

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Dec 15 2012 1:23AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) There was no coasting to a 10-game winning streak for Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Up by 24 in the fourth quarter, it looked as if Durant and fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook were going to rest for most of the final period.

The Sacramento Kings had another idea, forcing Oklahoma City to make one more push.

Durant scored 31 points, Serge Ibaka added 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Thunder's starters had to make a late appearance to hold off the Kings for a 113-103 victory on Friday night.

It's the franchise's longest winning streak since November 1996, when it won 11 in a row as the Seattle SuperSonics.

"It's good. We're 19-4 and we just want to look at the bigger picture instead of winning streaks," said sixth man Kevin Martin, who had 18 points. "We're a pretty talented team, so we're just taking baby steps and getting better every day."

Sacramento closed to 103-98 thanks to Isaiah Thomas, who scored all 26 of his points in the final 13 1/2 minutes. He had four 3-pointers, a layup and a jumper during a 23-4 comeback attempt by the Kings.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks had already emptied his bench, but ended up calling timeout with 4:17 remaining to put his starters back in.

"It was just a little frustration that they came back because I thought we were playing so well," Durant said. "You have tough stretches like that. I was just more frustrated that we gave up the lead."

Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka got the call to come back after Sacramento had cut the deficit to 10. Durant missed his first shot and Westbrook didn't even catch the rim on his first attempt, with Thomas running right through the defense for a layup in between.

Jimmer Fredette's three free throws with 3:21 left made it 103-98, but that's as close as it got. Fredette couldn't connect on a 3-pointer or a drive to the basket, and Thomas also missed a 3 as Oklahoma City regained its footing.

Durant recovered the ball after getting stripped and dropped in a layup before back-to-back Ibaka baskets extended the lead to 109-98.

"We made it tough, but Scottie has that luxury over there to call the big dogs back into the game," Sacramento coach Keith Smart said. "I thought our guys played and competed."

Durant wrote "Newtown, CT" on both of his shoes as a reference to the deadly school shooting in Connecticut earlier in the day. The three-time NBA scoring champion said it hit him particularly hard because he has a goddaughter who just started kindergarten and cousins in the first and second grades.

A moment of silence was held during the pregame prayer.

"I've got family members that young. Just to see kids that really couldn't do nothing for themselves, couldn't protect themselves and for their lives to be taken away and for their parents to go through stuff like that, that's the least I could do," Durant said.

"I wish I could do more. But it hit me really hard. It's tough to see, especially kids that couldn't do anything for themselves. Words can't even describe it. I'm kind of at a loss for words right now."

Tyreke Evans had 21 points and Jason Thompson finished with 15 for Sacramento, which was outrebounded 43-29.

Westbrook had 13 points and 13 assists for Oklahoma City.

After falling behind by 20 late in the first half, the Kings scored the first seven points in the third quarter and a couple minutes later cut the deficit to 65-55 following back-to-back 3-pointers by Aaron Brooks and John Salmons.

The margin was 12 when Smart called a timeout to prevent DeMarcus Cousins from attempting to take the ball coast to coast, then ripped into his players. Whatever he said didn't seem to provide much inspiration. The Thunder restored their 20-point cushion on Martin's two free throws with 9:46 remaining.

"There was a little arguing here and there, but it happens on every team," Thomas said. "Through the toughest times, you've got to know that the guy next to you is going to be all you've got and we've got to learn that."

Martin's layup pushed the lead to 99-75 just after seldom-used reserve Reggie Jackson entered for Oklahoma City. DeAndre Liggins, who plays even less, came in shortly thereafter.

The starters weren't quite done yet, and Durant said part of the blame for the comeback should fall on them.

"I'd date that back to the stat of the third. The starters have got to do a better job of coming out with more energy the first 5 minutes. Then maybe that wouldn't have happened in the fourth," Durant said. "We gave them a little bit of confidence going into that fourth. We just have to be better, and I think we will."

Martin had bookend 3-pointers in a 22-4 surge that put Oklahoma City firmly in control in the second quarter. Ibaka and Durant both had two-handed dunks during the run, and Durant also converted a 3-pointer and two free throws.

The Kings went 2 for 9 and committed four turnovers during the stretch before Kendrick Perkins delivered a firm screen to get Martin open for his 3-pointer to make it 56-36 with 2:37 left in the first half.

Sacramento led for just 39 seconds in the game, following a three-point play by Evans late in the first quarter. Martin hit a pair of free throws two possessions later to start a string of seven straight Thunder points, and Oklahoma City didn't trail again.

NOTES: Reserve guard Marcus Thornton was not with Sacramento for a second straight game for personal reasons. ... The Kings are the only Western Conference team that hasn't beaten the Thunder in Oklahoma City. ... Center Daniel Orton and guard Jeremy Lamb were assigned to Oklahoma City's NBA Development League affiliate in Tulsa before the game.

Notebook: Thunder 113, Kings 103

Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:45 PM - Updated Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:45 PM

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder won their 10th straight game, but not before nearly blowing a 24-point lead. OKC's starters had to be brought back into the game after appearing to have taken the rest of the night off in the fourth quarter to preserve a 113-103 win.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 31 points and Sacramento's Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to score 26 (two shy of a career high), with 23 coming during a furious rally in the fourth quarter when he hit nine of his team's 10 made baskets.

Oklahoma City (19-4) had five players in double figures in addition to Durant's 31. Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin each had 18. Ibaka also grabbed 11 rebounds. Thabo Sefolosha had a season-high 15 points and Russell Westbrook added 13 points and 13 assists for his ninth double-double of the season.

The Kings (7-15) also finished with five men in double figures but none of them could equal what Thomas did by himself in just the fourth quarter. Tyreke Evans came closest with 21, Jason Thompson dropped in 15, Aaron Brooks added 13 and DeMarcus Cousins was back in the lineup after his one-game suspension. He scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

The Kings outscored Oklahoma City 61-52 in the second half but it wasn't quite enough to dig out of a 61-42 hole the Thunder dumped them into in the first half with a big 22-4 run.

QUOTABLE: "Most of the game we played good basketball and then we just gave up too many easy buckets in the fourth quarter. I don't like the way we closed the game, I didn't wanna have to put our [starters] back in but we're not perfect. We're still trying to figure some things out."
--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

THE STAT: The Thunder went on a 22-4 run in the second quarter, pushing a 34-32 lead out to 56-36. Then in the fourth quarter the Kings went on a 22-4 spurt of their own cutting that 24-point, 99-75 OKC lead with 7:53 to play down to just six (103-97) at the 3:21 mark.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder built a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter with many of the second unit guys on the floor. Then the Kings backups sliced that lead all the way down to just 10 with 4:17 to play. That's when Brooks lost patience with his backups and brought Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka back into the game to stop the bleeding. Kings head coach Keith Smart kept his backups in the game and they continued to play well but not good enough to push past OKC's Big 3.

QUOTABLE II: "This game should have been on ice. We were down 24 points but our group did a good job of getting us back in. We made it tough, but Scotty has that luxury over there of calling the big dogs back in."
-- Keith Smart

HOT: The Kings started hot, shooting 52.9 percent in the first quarter (9-for-17). Durant was 6-for-8 (17 points) in the first half. Thompson was 4-for-5 in the first half. Thomas was 9-for-11 (4-for-6, 3-pointers) in the fourth quarter. OKC shot 57.9 percent in the final 12 minutes and the Kings shot 55.6 percent.

NOT: Kendrick Perkins was 1-for-5 in the first half. The Kings were just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) in the second quarter, while Thomas was 9-for-11 in the fourth and the rest of his teammates were a combined 1-for-7.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Oklahoma Cityans are certainly no strangers to horrific acts of violence and before the game, fans observed a moment of silence for the victims and all those affected by the school shootings in Newtown, Conn.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks wanted his team to come out with better ball movement and get a better start offensively after managing just 36 points in the first half Wednesday night. In the first half, OKC scored 61 points (32 in the second quarter) to take command.

BAD MOVE: Mouthing off to official Tony Brown, who handed out three technical fouls to Aaron Brooks, Perkins and Durant.

NOTABLE: The 19-4 start for the Thunder is the team's best since moving to Oklahoma City and the best start in franchise history since the Sonics began the 1993-94 season 21-3...The 10 game winning streak is the longest in the Oklahoma City era and the longest for the franchise since Seattle won 11 games in the 1996-97 season...OKC is now 11-0 when five or more players score in double figures.

UP NEXT: For the Sunday vs. Denver, Monday @ Phoenix, Wednesday @ Golden State. For the Thunder, Monday vs. San Antonio, Wednesday @ Atlanta, Thursday @ Minnesota.

• Kings: Honeycutt
• Thunder: Jones, Lamb, Orton

• Kings: Brooks
• Thunder: Durant, Perkins

• Lead Changes: 2
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #6 Tony Brown, #73 Tre Maddox
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:14