Thunder at Kings
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost four of their last five games and
the latest defeat stings the most as they prepare to open a four-game
road trip on Monday against the Sacramento Kings. Oklahoma City led the
defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors most of the night on
Saturday before falling 121-118 in overtime on Stephen Curry's 32-foot
3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan was saying his club took "a step in the right direction defensively" against Golden State and raved about all the positive things that could be taken out of the game, but All-Star small forward Kevin Durant wasn't interested in such rhetoric. "Moral victories are for young teams," Durant sternly told reporters. "We’ll get better from it and worry about the next game." Sacramento experienced a rare dose of success in its last meeting with the Thunder, posting a 116-104 victory on Jan. 4 to win in Oklahoma City for the first time after 14 consecutive losses. The Kings have lost back-to-back games and sit 10th in the Western Conference, four games behind eighth-place Houston in the battle for the final playoff spot.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, FSN Oklahoma, CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (41-18): Oklahoma City's recent slide has prompted the squad to fall nine games behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs, so the Thunder will now concentrate on making sure the Los Angeles Clippers don't overtake them. Oklahoma City was unable to put away the Warriors when it had the opportunities but point guard Russell Westbrook was encouraged by the defensive performance. "If we can give that defensive effort every night, that would be really great for our team," Westbrook told reporters.
ABOUT THE KINGS (24-33): The status of point guard Rajon Rondo (thumb) might not be known until close to game time after he missed Friday's 117-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Rondo has been bothered by the ailment for three weeks and recent X-rays fail to pinpoint the reason for the pain. All-Star post DeMarcus Cousins narrowly missed a triple-double with 26 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists against the Clippers but posted his 34th double-double of the campaign.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder are 23-5 against the Kings since moving from Seattle to Oklahoma City.
2. Cousins had 33 points and 19 rebounds in last month's win over the Thunder.
3. Durant scored 37 points against Golden State and has registered 44 straight 20-point performances.