Kings at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder seemed like a lock to make the playoffs two weeks ago, but now they’re on the outside looking in heading into their game Friday night against the visiting Sacramento Kings. The Thunder have lost four in a row and six of seven since March 25, while the New Orleans Pelicans have won five of their last seven to bump Oklahoma City into ninth place in the Western Conference.
The Thunder still don’t have last season’s league most valuable player, Kevin Durant (foot), and starting forward Serge Ibaka (knee) has joined him on the sidelines. If there’s a silver lining for the Thunder, it’s the possible return of backup forward Nick Collison, who has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury. For the Kings, leading scorer and rebounder DeMarcus Cousins has missed the last two games with foot soreness and second-leading scorer Rudy Gay has missed four of the last five games with a concussion, but there’s a better chance he’ll return against the Thunder than Cousins. Gay is averaging 24.3 points in three previous games against the Thunder this season, slightly better than his overall season average (21.1).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN California (Sacramento), FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
ABOUT THE KINGS (27-51): Ben McLemore is in position to become the first Sacramento player to start all 82 regular-season games since Mike Bibby in 2005-06. The second-year guard from Kansas has made decent strides from his rookie season, bumping his scoring average from 8.8 to 11.8 and his shooting percentage from 37.6 to 43.5. He’s been asked to carry a bigger load this month with the absences of Cousins and Gay and has responded by averaging 14.8 points and shooting 51.8 from the field in the five games.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (42-36): Russell Westbrook’s run at a potential league MVP award has taken a few hits lately, most recently his 17-point effort in Tuesday’s 25-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs, which was more than 10 points below his average. Probably most concerning were the two rebounds and two assists he gathered, marking the second time in two weeks he has been shut down by the Spurs. The only other starter capable of putting up points from the backcourt while Durant is out is Dion Waiters, but he’s shooting just 40 percent in the last seven games while averaging 12.3 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder are 18-8 this season when Durant plays the entire game.
2. Oklahoma City has won 12 straight at home against the Kings, its last loss coming March 30, 2008.
3. The Kings, who won nine of their first 14 games under previous coach Mike Malone, are 9-17 under George Karl.
PREDICTION: Thunder 94, Kings 85