Josh Giddey's Career Night Not Enough as Thunder Stoop to Kings

Entering Saturday’s back-to-back capper versus the Sacramento Kings, the Oklahoma City Thunder have stood true to their next man up mentality.

With an undefeated 3-0 record since the absence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headed into the City of Trees, the rotation took an additional hit with the no-show of Lu Dort. In their places, the Thunder were unable to continue their hot streak, falling to the Kings 113-103.

Following the loss, the Thunder now sit fourth in reverse standings at 17-35.

Oklahoma City started play within arms length for the sunrise stages of play, wavering inside a one-possession battle before a 9-1 spurt pushed their deficit to nine. On the return, the Thunder carved out an altering 9-1 to whittle the margin. They ended the frame down 36-30

Both sides shot above 50% in the first period.

Mark Daigneault dug deep into his rotational war chest to open the second quarter, and it paid off. With a backcourt tandem of Josh Giddey and Theo Maledon, the Thunder took to the inside for their first quintet of buckets. Once the ones filtered in, the script stayed the same draining 11-of-12 shots on twos.

The Thunder found themselves out 64-57 at half, holding their 50% output in the process.

After multiple pushes, Oklahoma City took their first lead three minutes into the third quarter, only for the lead to swap sides a mere minute later. The lead teetered for the midsegments of run before a 12-2 Kings run sent the Thunder down 89-79 going into the fourth.

Daignealt chose to call upon his “bench mob” early in the fourth. In the early stages, they took a 17-point deficit three minutes in but made things interesting with a counteracting run. The stint came too little too late.

Oklahoma City had their way around the basket shooting 48.3% from the floor, but a measly 30.0% three-point clip set them in. To make matters worse, the Thunder shot a slim 4-of-22 (18.2%) at the top-of-the-key.

In Sacramento’s camp, they caught their wind at both levels of the floor shooting 51.8% while adding a 12-of-32 (37.5%) output from deep.

With all five starters in double figures, Harrison Barnes led the charge with 24 points while Tyrese Haliburton added 13 points and a career-high 17 assists to the pot.

Josh Giddey strummed out a complete first half with 11 points, 6 assists, and 24 points accounted for. By the final buzzer, the Aussie had totaled a career-high 24 points, four rebounds, and eight assists on a 10-of-18 clip. With SGA out, Giddey’s ball-handling has received a major uptick.

Darius Bazley mustered up a strong starting performance adding 18 points and seven rebounds. Bazley’s biggest performances have opened in a bench role, but with a void at the one – he’s been a persistent attacker inside.

Following a 32-minute stint Friday, Tre Mann showed little signs of fatigue posting 16 points and three assists across 32 minutes. Mann placed shooting in the forefront of play, launching 18 shot attempts, but only six shots hit bottom. Flaky shot charts are to be expected with the rookie, meaning he’ll be at 100% for next game.

After being on NBA hiatus for nearly a month, Aleksej Pokusevski caught some rhythm with 12 points in 26 minutes. The seven-footer’s inconsistencies have plagued his rotational stance this year, but Saturday was a step in the right direction off a 5-of-7 clip.

In his second start of the season, Mamadi Diakite dabbled into the score card with nine points and eight rebounds across 24 minutes. Barring a hardship grant, the Thunder will need to make an ultimatum on his long-term plans.

Next up, the Oklahoma City Thunder (17-35) will tackle the Golden State Warriors (40-13) Monday evening.

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