SACRAMENTO – To the Sacramento Kings, Russell Westbrook and Paul George’s relentless attacks into the paint must have seemed like a blur. For the Thunder’s two perennial All-Stars on the other hand, the 132-113 win over the Kings moved in slow motion.
On the road against a tough squad the Thunder had lost twice to this season, Head Coach Billy Donovan received a last-minute jolt: he wouldn’t have point guards Dennis Schröder or Raymond Felton due to a letter-of-the-law suspension for leaving the bench while trying to play peacemakers during the pushing and shoving that occurred on Monday against Chicago. Nevertheless, the Thunder was sensational across the board against the Kings, taking care of all of the things that are required of road teams in the NBA.
“We’re not going to play perfect all the time, but for the most part we did the things we had to do. We rebounded the ball. I thought we were at a good pace in the first half of keeping them off the free throw line,” Donovan listed. “When we did the things that we talked about doing at a high level, that’s when we were at our best.”
“We took them out of their game, out of their style,” added George after the game on Fox Sports Oklahoma. “This is a fast team. We eliminated that speed by getting back, not turning the ball over or making it easy on them to get easy baskets.”
Donovan’s group was dominant on the glass (66-43) and in second chance points (17-7), and matched Sacramento at the three-point line with 13 makes each. The stabilizing force for the Thunder throughout the night was Steven Adams, whose physicality and wits around the rim were crucial to victory.
“(Adams) did a lot of incredible things around the basket and was really, really good,” said Donovan. “Just his presence on both ends of the floor was impactful.”
“(Adams is) just a guy that doesn’t talk about it, but he’s been doing it all season,” Westbrook added. “There is nobody that’s going to stop him from doing what’s he’s able to do every night and he does it at a high level.”
The Kings started off strong in this one, getting to the rim on screen-and-roll dishes for unencumbered layups. After an early timeout by Donovan, however, the Thunder got back into business with runs of 6-0 and 11-2 in the first quarter to take control. In the second quarter, Paul George entered the supercharged mode he’s gotten into the past few weeks, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers to fuel a 15-0 burst.
The Thunder’s lead swelled to as many as 23 after halftime, but everyone in the building knew the Kings were going to have one more burst in them. Catching fire from behind the arc on some drive and dish jumpers, Sacramento used a 12-1 run to pull back to within 8 points just before the start of the fourth quarter.
Without its two reserve point guards, George played a very different rotation than he usually does, but it didn’t seem to faze him at all. To start the fourth quarter, George either scored or assisted on the Thunder’s first 15 points, first hitting a ridiculous step-back three-pointer, then attacking and muscling up a layup that forced a Sacramento timeout. He hit one more three during that burst but also operated out of the elbows to perfection, posting up smaller guards to catch and fire with unbridled confidence.
“Super slow motion. I just felt good,” grinned George. “I’ve always played in that (elbow) area. It’s definitely a familiar area for me to be in. Nine times out of ten I have the size matchup. From there it’s just getting to a spot and raising up if I have a little guy on me, or if it’s a slower guy, just attacking from that elbow.”
George finished with a game-high 43 points on 15-for-27 shooting to go with 12 rebounds and 7 assists, and he was backed up in the box score with some historical contributions by his teammates. Steven Adams registered his first 20-20 game, becoming just the third Thunder player to do so, with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting along with a career-high 23 rebounds. Jerami Grant averaged two points per shot with 22 points on 11 field goal attempts, and Westbrook was the maestro, racking up 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 17 assists thanks to some blazing open court speed and a mastery of the middle of the floor as a facilitator.
“I love setting my teammates up,” said Westbrook, who repeatedly hunted for George in his sweet spots all night. “It’s fulfilling to see joy in somebody else’s game, in their eyes, and see they’re having fun. For me, it’s very, very fulfilling and something I enjoy. The best part of the game is to be able to do that for somebody.”
“We just stayed aggressive. We stayed within our offense,” George noted. “Russ did a heck of job of finding people.”
The game marked the first time since the Dallas Mavericks in 1995 that a team had a player who scored 40+ points, a different player had 20+ rebounds and a third player who registered a triple-double. In an up-tempo, high possession total game, the Thunder’s efficiency and productivity on both ends just wore the Kings out. Now sitting at 20-10 on the season, the Thunder is off to its best 30-game start to a season since the 2015-16 campaign, and heads off to Salt Lake City for a matchup against the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Highlights: Thunder 132, Kings 113 - 12/19/18