The Sacramento Kings led the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder at the end of the first three quarters, but the fourth quarter was the one that mattered most.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and the Thunder escaped with a 107-101 victory after outscoring the Kings 17-4 over the last 5:54 on Tuesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
It was another frustrating outcome for the Kings, who have lost three of their first four games despite holding a fourth-quarter lead in all four contests.
“We’ve got to come up with rebounds when we get stops. We’ve got to convert at a high level,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “When I look at this, we probably should be 4-0, but we’re not ready to be 4-0, and we’ve got to look in the mirror on that because 4-0 means all that little stuff that I just said, it gets handled when it’s winning time. That’s on me, too.”
Aaron Wiggins had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Thunder (5-0), one of four undefeated teams in the NBA. Ajay Mitchell came off the bench to match Wiggins with 18 points. Luguentz Dort added 13 for Oklahoma City, which was playing on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
Zach LaVine scored 23 points to lead the Kings (1-3) in the first game of a tough four-game road trip. DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points. Russell Westbrook, who spent the first 11 years of his career in Oklahoma City, put up 16 points and nine rebounds in his first start of the season.
Keon Ellis came off the bench to score 12 points for Sacramento. Domantas Sabonis recorded a double-double with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
Halftime report
Westbrook came out firing against his former team, going 3 of 3 from 3-point range over the first 5:26 to help the Kings take an early 16-12 lead. Sacramento could have opened up a bigger advantage if not for a rough start from LaVine, who committed four of his team’s six turnovers in the opening period.
The Kings led 29-24 at the end of the first quarter and went up by eight early in the second. Sacramento led by as many as 10 before Oklahoma City came back to cut the deficit to two.
The Kings carried a 62-58 advantage in the halftime break. They shot 56.1% from the field, 42.9% from 3-point range and went 10 of 10 at the free-throw line. That was a welcome sight for a team that ranked 30th in the NBA in free-throw shooting (.643) going into the game.
Second-half slide
Sacramento extended its lead to seven early in the second half before Oklahoma City staged an 8-0 run to take a 71-70 lead on two free throws by Dort. The Kings responded nicely, answering with an 11-0 run to go up 81-71 on a jumper by Dennis Schroder with 4:11 to play in the third period.
Oklahoma City rallied again to get within one on a three-point play by Mitchell. Sacramento led 83-80 at the end of the third quarter and went up 97-90 on a 3-pointer by LaVine with 6:37 to play in the fourth, but the Thunder had one more comeback in store for the Kings.
Dort hit a 3-pointer to put Oklahoma City up 99-97 with 2:33 remaining. The Kings never regained the lead.
“We’re doing too many good things to lose games right now,” LaVine said. “I’m not trying to be a downer. I’m all for being positive, but we’ve been leading each game we played. We’ve got to figure out how to win in the fourth quarter. That’s a championship team. Obviously, they did what they’re supposed to, but we’re giving away games. We’re playing well, but we’re letting things slip away. Everyone needs to be accountable for that, from top to bottom.”
Up next
The Kings will face the Chicago Bulls on the second night of a back-to-back Wednesday at United Center.
The Bulls (3-0) are one of four unbeaten teams in the NBA. They are coming off a 128-123 victory over the Atlanta Hawks after opening the season with wins over the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets.
Nikola Vucevic is averaging 20.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Josh Giddey is averaging 19.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
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