by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings played the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night without DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay in the line up. Without their “big two” on the floor, it is no surprise that the Kings lost the game 116-103.

What might surprise you is the fact the Kings were still very much into the game after three quarters of play. Sacramento could have decided to sleep walk through the game, take the loss to a potential playoff team and moved on to Denver. Instead, the Kings came to play some ball.

Sacramento’s attack was led by “the Macs” – Ben McLemore and Ray McCallum. Ben McLemore scored 20 points hitting on eight of 17 field goal attempts including four 3-pointers. The one downside to McLemore’s game was the five turnovers he recorded.

Ray McCallum had a 17 point game even with having the unenviable job of guarding Russell Westbrook all night. McCallum had four assists, six rebounds, one steal and just one turnover.

After the game, Kings Head Coach George Karl said McCallum did not win the matchup with Westbrook, but he indicated that McCallum did a good job versus one of the real stars of the NBA.

Derrick Williams came off the bench and scored 17 points despite being zero for seven from the field at one point in the game. Omri Casspi added 15 points. Nik Stauskas scored 9 points after missing the Utah game with back soreness.

The Kings shot 45.7-percent (37 for 81) from the floor. They hit nine of their 24 3-point attempts (37.5-percent). Sacramento improved their performance at the free throw line going 20 for 28 (71.4-percent) from the stripe.

One major problem for the Kings was turnovers. They turned the ball over 16 times which resulted in 20 points for OKC. The Kings dished out 19 assists. That type of assist to turnover ratio will not get the job done in the NBA.

In the postgame review, Karl indicated that his team played great for 40-minutes and then fatigue set in which allowed the Thunder to run away with the game in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder,who were without Serge Ibaka, were led in scoring by Russell Westbrook. Westbrook scored 27 points to go with 10 assists and five rebounds. Dion Waiters put up 22 points. Anthony Morrow came off the bench to score 19 points hitting on five of 10 3-point attempts. Enes Kanter poured in 25 points.

OKC Head Coach Scott Brooks cannot be thrilled that it took 40 minutes for his team to put away the lowly Kings. The Thunder are fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference and should have shown more intensity earlier in the game.

New Orleans won their game so the Thunder and Pelicans are still tied for the final playoff berth. The Pelicans own the tie-breaker between the teams, so the Thunder must finish with one more victory than New Orleans to make the playoffs.

With the loss, the Kings record drops to 27-52. Oklahoma City’s record improves to 43-36.

After the game, the Kings headed off for Denver where they will play the Nuggets on Sunday.