Thunder at Kings
The Sacramento Kings fired coach Mike Malone after 24 games and interim coach Tyrone Corbin will run the squad on Tuesday when the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder visit town. Malone was surprisingly fired early in his second season on the job as the club’s fortunes dropped with center DeMarcus Cousins sidelined with viral meningitis. The Kings have lost eight of their last 10 games and Cousins has been sidelined for the last nine contests.
The Thunder have won six straight games and eight of nine and are clicking with forward Kevin Durant and point guard Russell Westbrook back in good health. Despite the sterling run, Durant doesn’t want to hear any chatter about the playoffs. “We’re only 24 games in,” Durant told reporters. “We’re not even close to the halfway point of the season yet. It’s too early to think about that. We just want to continue to build our habits and play good basketball.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (11-13): Durant is three points away from becoming the fourth fastest player (since 1975) to reach 15,000 career points. Durant is playing in his 550th contest and the only players to do it faster are Michael Jordan (460), LeBron James (540) and Shaquille O’Neal (547). Durant had 23 points and eight rebounds in Sunday’s 112-88 win over the Phoenix Suns as Oklahoma City took control with a 41-point opening quarter and cruised to victory.
ABOUT THE KINGS (11-13): Small forward Rudy Gay is getting more shots with Cousins sidelined and he has scored 20 or more points in seven of the last nine games. Gay had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in Saturday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons for his 14th 20-point outing of the campaign. Despite the stretch of 20-point games, Gay’s efficiency hasn’t always been high and he is just 10-of-40 from the field over the last two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder posted a 101-93 win over Sacramento on Nov. 9 for their 11th straight win in the series.
2. Kings PG Darren Collison had three points on 1-of-10 shooting against Detroit after tallying 50 points over the previous two games.
3. Oklahoma City is averaging 105 points over its last nine games after having a paltry average of 89.6 points over its first 15 games.