by Michael Martinez

picture credit Google Images

DeMarcus Cousins was once again a dominate force as he’s been all season. The All Star has been just as incredible since the break and score 31 points since the break while scoring more in the paint. But Cousins’ offensive performance was dwelled thanks to All Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Not to mention, a couple of the Thunder’s bench put big numbers to help lead the Thunder to a victory. For Sacramento who were without Rudy Gay, their loss to Oklahoma City was their third straight and another loss to a top four team in the Western Conference.  The most unfortunate part of the 131-116 loss, was that Utah and eight place  Houston lost as well so no teams fell back or made progress in the Western Conference.

The Kings got off to a good start against the Thunder in the first quarter. The Kings had a 16-9 about half way through the first thanks to Cousins and Quincy Acy giving the team some spark.

Acy picked up a technical foul after getting into it with All Star Durant. After the Kings had a nice lead, OKC fought right back into it. The Thunder would go on 10-2 run, to grab their first lead of the game at 19-18. From then on both teams went back and forth with the lead and the first ended with the Oklahoma City up, 29-25.

In the second quarter, the Thunder kept shooting well from the field. The Kings kept fighting back to try and cut it close but the Westbrook and Durant duo kept the offensive alive. Unfortunately for the Kings, Rajon Rondo picked up two delay of games for technical fouls after Sacramento had one on the first quarter.

After one half, the Kings were down 61-53 to the Thunder. Through the half C0usins showed how amazing he was with 21 points and six rebound while Darren Collison had the next best eight points for the half. Collison played really well of the bench with eight points in the half.

Unsurprisingly Westbrook and Durant had dominant a first half. Durant scored 17 points on 5-11 shooting and Westbrook scored 14 points with nine rebound and eight assists. The OKC point guard got so close to a  triple double at the half, which further showed how incredible he has been all season.

At halftime, OKC was shooting 52.5% while the Kings shot 44.4% from the field. The Thunder were 8-20 from beyond the arc, which helped them hold a leader. With 11 OKC turnovers the Kings were able to score 16 points, which was the Thunder’s only issue.

DMC once again had a great quarter with eight points and Omri Casspi totaled nine points in the third quarter. The Kings kept thing close but in the fourth the Thunder ran away with the score. Durant totaled 27 points totaled 27 points and Westbrook grabbed another triple double with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists through four quarter.

After two quarters, OKC led 61-52.

Out of the half, Cousins kept showing h0w great he was on offense but Westbrook came through big time for the Thunder finishing with a triple double through three quarters. The Kings kept it close but through three quarters found themselves down 94-84. Westbrook finished the quarter with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists while Cousins tallied 29 points through three. Although the Kings did not turn the ball over much, they allowed the Thunder to shoot at an incredibly efficient rate. Cousins finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds while Rondo scored 11 points and added 12 assists and nine rebounds in Gay’s absence. The Thunder busted the fourth quarter wide open and led to their defeat.

Enes Kanter scored 23 points on 11-11 of shooting while Dion Waters went 8-11 for 22 points. Ben McLemore scored 14 and Omri Casspi scored 16 points in the Kings’ 131-116 loss. Sacramento did not capitalize on  OKC’s mistakes and took a tough defeat.

The Kings will take on the Grizzlies in Memphis on Wednesday at 5 p.m.