Thunder at Kings
The Oklahoma City Thunder are marching up the win column and have no trouble shoving some opponents out of the way on the way up - literally and figuratively. The Thunder will try to push their winning streak to three straight without racking up a slew of technical fouls when they begin a stretch of seven of nine on the road by visiting the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.
Oklahoma City rolled past the Chicago Bulls 121-96 on Monday in a game that was more notable for a multi-player scuffle that erupted in the third quarter. Thunder star Russell Westbrook was shoved in the chest by Chicago point guard Kris Dunn, setting off a chain of events that led to a pair of technical fouls for each team in a situation forward Paul George described by telling reporters: "It got a little chippy, but we kept rolling." The Kings should be well-rested after letting the starters take the entire second half off and playing eight reserves at least 18 minutes apiece in Monday's 132-105 setback at Minnesota. "I'm happy that the guys stayed ready to play, because everybody has a role," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger told reporters. "You're going to have some nights like these. I commend those guys for going out there, being professional, playing hard and taking the minutes."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBATV, FS Oklahoma, NBCS California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (19-10): Westbrook led Oklahoma City with 13 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals on Monday - his fourth straight game with at least four steals. "When we're worried about ourselves and our team and not worried about what the other team is doing, it's tough to beat us," Westbrook told reporters. "My job is to make sure that we're all on the same page, we're all in tune on offense and defense and we play at a level that is at our standards and not nobody else's." Westbrook posted a triple-double in four of eight games this month but is only shooting 36.4 percent from the floor in December.
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-14): Shooting guard Buddy Hield was the lone starter to log more than 10 minutes on Monday and finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes. "He was a large part of any offensive success we were having," Joerger told reporters of Hield. "We were struggling to score. We came out and played isolation basketball, and that's not who we are. We've got to be better." Hield is averaging 24 points on 52.9 percent shooting over the last four games and is 18-of-40 from 3-point range in that span.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Kings PG Yogi Ferrell is averaging 11 points over the last four games, nearly double his season average (5.8 points).
2. Thunder C Steven Adams is averaging 20 points in December, raising his season average to 16.1.
3. Sacramento took each of the first two meetings this season, most recently a 117-113 home triumph on Nov. 19.