By Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings went into the game on Sunday having never won a contest in Oklahoma City (0-13). After the game on Sunday night, the Kings still have yet to win in OKC as they lost another winnable game 98-95.

One of the hardest things to do in the NBA is to win the second game of a back-to-back series on the road. The Kings lost a wild affair in Houston on Saturday and played well versus the Thunder but lost both ends of the back-to-back road games.

The Kings and Thunder played even in the first half. Neither was able to establish a solid lead as both teams played tough defense. At the half, the Thunder led the Kings 51-48.

Sacramento came out in the third quarter and played lifeless basketball. Early on they reverted to playing a one-on-one game and did so poorly. The Thunder outscored the Kings 25-16 in the quarter and Oklahoma City led the game 76-64 after three quarters.

The Kings came alive in the final quarter led by the solid play of Darren Collison (10 points) and Marco Belinelli (9) off the bench. Rajon Rondo added five rebounds and four assists. DeMarcus Cousins had a very quiet fourth period as he scored just two points shooting 1-for-6. Sacramento outscored the Thunder 31-22 in fourth quarter.

The Thunder was able to hang on in fourth due to the play of Kevin Durant and Dion Walters. Durant had a terrible game overall but scored six critical points at the end of the game. Walters added seven points in the final quarter to help lead his team to the victory.

Kings

Rudy Gay led the Kings scoring putting up 20 points but he had to take 18 shots to score those points. Gay shot 8-for-18 from the floor.

DeMarcus Cousins struggled shooting in the game going 5-for-20 from the field and 3-for-9 from the free throw line. Cousins scored 13 points.

Darren Collison and Marco Belinelli scored 16 points apiece. Collison was a perfect 6-for-6 free throw shooting. Belinelli shot 6-for-13 in the game.

Rajon Rondo added 10 assists, nine rebounds and seven points in the loss.

Sacramento shot just 39.8-percent (35-for-88) for the game. They converted just 18-of-30 free throw attempts. Hitting four additional free throws would have resulted in a Kings victory.

Thunder

Russell Westbrook posted a triple-double for OKC. He scored 19 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and distributed 10 assists.

Kevin Durant finished the game as the Thunder’s leading scorer. He scored 20 points but shot 1-for-6 from behind the 3-point line and turned the ball over 10 times.

Enes Kanter (14), Serge Ibaka (12) and Dion Walters (10) all scored in double figures.

The Thunder shot just 40.7-percent (35-for-86) well below their season average of 46.8-percent. OKC also shot below their average for free throws but their 22 conversions off 31 attempts was the difference maker in the game.

Up next

The Kings (7-15) return to Sacramento where they will host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. That game will be the first of a three-game home stand.

The Thunder (12-8) travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.