Sacramento is no longer winless in Oklahoma City. The Kings beat the Thunder 116-104, making it the first time since Oklahoma poached the Sonics from Seattle, and ended their 14-game losing streak in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

After a disastrous three-game losing streak, the Kings have now put together two solid offensive performances and appear to be moving in the right direction.

However, given Sacramento’s wildly inconsistent results this season, it remains to be seen whether this team will continue it’s strong offense and spirited play.

Perhaps part of the uptick in scoring is due to finally getting some offensive production out of Marco Belinelli, who had another nice game for the third time in-a-row, which takes us to our first of Three Takeaways:

MARCO BELINELLI HAS ELEVATED HIS GAME

While his defense still leaves a lot to be desired (and probably always will at this point), Belinelli has finally begun to do what the Kings brought him here to do; score the rock. Belinelli had 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go along with 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Belinelli has looked much better, which isn’t saying much considering how poorly he had been playing. But, at least now he’s not making as many boneheaded plays and his shot is dropping at a consistent rate that defenders have to respect him.

Perhaps playing with the Spurs the past few years has rubbed off on him and he doesn’t think the “real season” begins until after the New Year. Whatever the reason, Belinelli has upped his game and it seems to be helping the other players on the team.

DEMARCUS COUSINS CAN STILL REBOUND AND DO OTHER GOOD THINGS

DeMarcus Cousins had a bad week last week. He wasn’t rebounding. He was getting ejected from games. Many people were feeling that the Kings’ best player should be traded.

“It definitely helped having K.D. out,” Cousins told the Associated Press. “That’s a big threat that they didn’t have tonight. It made our jobs a little bit easier on defense. I think we were able to key in on Russ tonight and make other guys shoot, and we won the game.”

I was not one of the people who claimed Cousins should be traded (full disclosure, though–I actually thought about it for the first time since Cousins donned a Sacramento uniform).

Chalk it up to frustration. But the thought was fleeting for a few reasons: 1) You’ll never get full return value for Cousins while this franchise is struggling; 2) He’s too good and the team’s only All-Star in a decade; 3) Look what he did against the second-best rebounding team in the league).

What a difference a week makes. DMC dropped 33 points on the Thunder and gobbled up 19 rebounds. Sure, he went 11-of-27 from the field (and there was that atrocious perimeter attempt that missed badly during the last minute-and-a-half of play).

Gross, but after his ineffective start to the first quarter, Boogie went on a 7-0 run all by himself. It started with a couple made free throws with 2:38 left in the opening quarter. The next possession he nailed a 3-point shot, and the one after ended with a beasty dunk on which he drew an “and-one.” There aren’t many players in the league that can do that kind of work.

“They made a little run, but we stopped the bleeding early and gained control of the game again,” Cousins told the Associated Press.

GEORGE KARL HAS PASSED PHIL JACKSON ON THE ALL-TIME WINS LIST

Congratulations to George Karl, who takes sole position of the fifth spot on the all-time coaching wins list, bumping Phil Jackson down to number six. Karl earned his 1,156th win after the Kings beat the Thunder.

Given what Phil Jackson has put this franchise and its fans through, it feels good knowing that he has to cede his spot on the list to a Sacramento coach. While Coach Jackson deserves our respect, fans must always be mindful that “Beat LA” is more than a mantra. It’s a way of life. Enjoy your 1,155 wins, Number Six.

The champagne will taste much better and sweeter after this impressive victory on the road.