SACRAMENTO -- Thanksgiving came a day early for Sacramento Kings fans. After dispatching the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, the Kings made it two in a row on Wednesday when they thumped a road-weary Oklahoma City Thunder club by a final of 116-101.
DeMarcus Cousins dominated the action from the opening tip. The two-time All-Star big hit from long range and from inside, dropping in 16 of his team-high 36 points in the first quarter. Cousins added 13 rebounds to notch his seventh double-double of the season.
Bumped out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, Ty Lawson was a ball of fire off Dave Joerger’s bench. Lawson finished the game with eight points four rebounds and four assists, but his raw numbers don’t tell whole story. The pint-sized point flew around the court and energized the team.
Rudy Gay, Darren Collison and Arron Afflalo struggled to their offense going early, but after a halftime wake up call, all three came out strong in the third. Gay finished the night with 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes.
Collison chipped in 21 points and six assists in his second start of the season. Afflalo went into the post and worked over the Thunder for eight points on 3-for-6 shooting.
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Kosta Koufos gave a big effort off the bench, hitting for nine points and 10 rebounds and Ben McLemore scored all nine of his points off the bench in the first half.
Russell Westbrook has more gears than any automobile on the road. The perennial MVP candidate barely missed posting his sixth triple-double of the season, finishing the night with 31 points, nine assists and 11 rebounds in the loss.
With Westbrook drawing and kicking, Oladipo found the soft spots in the Kings defense. The versatile scorer hit 3-of-8 from long range for 18 points and added six rebounds.
Enes Kanter managed 10 points and seven rebounds and Andre Roberson added 10 points.
STANDOUT PERFORMER -- It was a battle of two of the NBA’s heavy-weights and Cousins came out on top. The Kings’ star big dominated Steven Adams and anyone else the Thunder put in front of him.
TURNING POINT -- The Kings let the game slip away at the end of the first half, allowing OKC to cut their big first half lead to just four heading to the intermission. They responded in a big way in the third, using a team effort to push the lead back to 12 heading into the final frame.
INJURY UPDATE -- Sacramento has plenty of bumps and bruises, but none that have shown up on the injury report. They have 12 healthy veterans and three rookie back with the parent club after time with the Reno Bighorns.
WHAT'S NEXT -- The Kings finish up their five game homestand Friday when James Harden and the Houston Rockets roll through town.
