OKLAHOMA CITY Super Bowl Sunday was anything but super for the Sacramento Kings in Oklahoma City. Sacramento kicked off its three-game road trip in Oklahoma City with a 127-113 defeat at Paycom Center in an afternoon affair that tipped off 3 ½ hours before the San Francisco 49ers represented Northern California in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs.. While Kings coach Mike Brown was eagerly awaiting kickoff to see his son, Cameron Brown, a member of the 49ers coaching staff, his basketball team struggled with turnovers and trying to contain one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
The Thunder were led by All-Star starter Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 38 points, including 29 through three quarters, and second-year standout Jalen Williams, who had 32. Four of OKC’s five starters finished plus-25 or better before the fourth quarter began, making it a tough climb back for Brown’s team. Williams and Alexander made 27 of their 45 shots, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. “It’s always hard to stop an All-Star,” Malik Monk said of defending Gilgeous-Alexander, considered an MVP candidate in his sixth NBA season. “You really can’t stop them. You can try to throw things at them to slow them down. But I think we started off a little too slow. I think that’s why we lost the game. It’s hard to come back, especially with a team like this.” To Monk’s point, the Kings fell behind by 10 midway through the first quarter and were battling to stay afloat throughout the game.
Monk led the Kings in scoring with 26 off the bench, continuing a strong stretch after a rough finish to the previous month. The Sixth Man of the Year candidate averaged 21.8 points over his last five games after scoring single digits in five of the last six games in January. Davion Mitchell added 14 points. “SGA played like an MVP candidate,” Brown said. “We threw the kitchen sink at him and he still scored 38. And then Jaylen Williams was really, really big. I say he was big, because he scored 32, but he was extremely efficient throughout the course of the night going 13 for 19.” The Kings were unable to continue their momentum stemming from Friday’s blowout victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets at Golden 1 Center. They lost despite outscoring the Thunder 30-27 in the fourth quarter.
The Kings trimmed the lead to eight thanks to a 14-5 run to begin the frame with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, which spurred the MVP candidate’s return to the floor after a timeout. Kings center Domantas Sabonis recorded his 49th career triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists. It was his 17th of the season to lead the NBA, and the fifth time this season he posted consecutive triple-doubles. Sabonis also posted his 35th consecutive double-double. The second half began with a mini Kings run where they trimmed the lead to six, but it was all downhill from there. From the 9:21 mark to 4:26, OKC went on a 23-6 run.
