The Oklahoma Thunder’s forward Jalen Williams (8) sets up as the Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) gets ready to defend at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Tue Feb 28, 2023 (@SacramentoKings photo)

No Fox? No Problem as Sacramento Beats OKC 123-117

By Barbara Mason

Tuesday night the Sacramento Kings (36-26) took on the Oklahoma City Thunder (28-33) at Paycom Center after beating them Sunday 124- 115. The Kings took the court without De’Aaron Fox out with a wrist issue. Sacramento extended the Thunder’s losing streak to four straight games 123-117 on Tuesday night.

Game recap: The Kings came out strong in the first quarter winning the first 12 minutes 44-38. Sacramento had a great offensive start shooting at 66%.

The Kings saw some beautiful ball movement in the second quarter as the Kings extended their lead to 68-59 with two minutes left in the half. They had led in the quarter by as much as 15 points. Their shooting percentage had dropped a bit but still outstanding at 60%. Sacramento took a 71- 66 lead into the locker room after the first two quarters.

The Kings got into some early foul trouble in the third quarter. Domantas Sabonis had four personals and Coach Brown had to pull him and with Fox out, the Kings would need all hands on deck for the remainder of the quarter. Sacramento had really cooled off from downtown but still held onto the lead after three 93-87.

They were shooting at 50.8 percent. The offense had fallen off and they would need to shore it up in the fourth quarter if they wanted to close this game out.

The Thunder would not go away and with nine minutes left in the game it was all tied up at 98. The Kings continued to struggle from beyond the arc. Harrison Barnes broke the drought hitting a three at 7:36 to give Sacramento a slim lead 101-98.

Sacramento had a frenzied sequence and with 5:46 left on the clock had extended their lead to ten 110-100. Again it was Harrison Barnes with yet another three that pushed the lead in favor of Sacramento. Every starter was shooting in double digits although the team was really missing the ball handling and speed of Fox. The final was 123-117 in favor of the Kings.

In the absence of Fox the man of the hour with the high score was Barnes shooting for 29 points. Sabonis had 22 and Kevin Huerter with 20 points. The Thunder got close at times but the Kings held on for the win.

Again the Kings struggled with protecting the ball. They had 17 turnovers.

Friday night the Kings will be facing a very tough Los Angeles Clipper team at Golden 1 Center. Los Angeles will be looking to avenge the double overtime they lost to Sacramento back on February 24th. The score in that game was 176-175. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.