Starting Line-ups
Kings
- Beno Udrih
- Tyreke Evans
- Donté Greene
- Jason Thompson
- DeMarcus Cousins
Reserves: Luther Head, Francisco Garcia, Samuel Dalembert, Carl Landry, Omri Casspi, Darnell Jackson, Pooh Jeter.
Inactives: Jermaine Taylor.
OKC
- Russell Westbrook
- Thabo Sefolosha
- Kevin Durant
- Jeff Green
- Serge Ibaka
Reserves: Cole Aldrich, James Harden, Nenard Krstic, Eric Maynor, Nick Collison, D.J. White, Royal Ivey.
First Quarter Recap
The Kings scored first in this one on a second chance basket by Tyreke Evans. When the ball moved and the Kings players cut, the offense looked good. The Kings have a major size advantage over the Thunder and in the first quarter, they used that size to hang tough with one of the West’s best teams. The Kings, and more specifically Tyreke Evans, did a great job of staying in front of Russell Westbrook, holding the young point guard to four points on 2-7 shooting. At the end of the first, the Kings led by one in a back and forth battle.
Kings 22 OKC 21
Leaders
Kings- Cousins/Udrih (6) Points; Cousins (6) Rebounds; Thompson/Cousins (2) Assists.
OKC- Durant (7) Points; Ibaka (6) Rebounds; Durant (3) Assists.
Second Quarter Recap
The Kings went heavily to the bench to start the second and quickly fell behind the Thunder by double digits. When Westphal went back to his starters, the Kings quickly climbed back into the game. The Tyreke Evans of last season appeared in the second quarter, using his size and strength to take anyone and everyone off the dribble. The Kings starting back court of Udrih and Evans came to play, combining for 30 points on 14-23 shooting. In a hotly contested quarter, the Thunder pulled away at the end to take a seven point half time lead.
Kings 46 OKC 53
Leaders
Kings- Evans (16) Points; Cousins (9) Rebounds; Cousins (3) Assists.
OKC- Durant (13) Points; Ibaka (8) Rebounds; Maynor (5) Assists.
Team Kings OKC
FG% 47.8% 47.7%
Rebounds 20 24
Assists/TO 8/5 14/5
Third Quarter Recap
The Kings held tough in the third on the back of rookie big man DeMarcus Cousins. DMC paced the Kings with eight points and five rebounds in the quarter, which helped to make up for yet another slow second half start by Tyreke Evans. Evans, who scored a team high 16 points in the first half, threw up a goose egg in the third while his counter-part Russell Westbrook hurt the Kings with seven points of his own. Through the first 36 minutes, the Kings seemed to be holding their own and only trailed the home team by five points.
Kings 67 OKC 72
Leaders
Kings- Evans/Cousins (16) Points; Cousins (14) Rebounds; Evans (4) Assists.
OKC- Westbrook (19) Points; Ibaka (9) Rebounds; Durant (5) Assists.
Fourth Quarter Recap
The fourth was a disaster. After fighting hard for three quarters, the Kings laid down in the fourth. The Thunder began the quarter on an 11-1 run to push their lead to 15 points. After leading the way early in the game, DeMarcus Cousins picked up three fouls, missed a shot and turned the ball over- all in the first three minutes of the fourth. Tyreke Evans rejoined the action and helped the Kings cut the Thunder lead back down to six after a 9-0 run. The Thunder responded with an 8-0 run of their own and ran away from the visiting Kings. Rookie DeMarcus Cousins finished strong, scoring 19 points and grabbing a career high 16 rebounds. For the second game in a row, the Kings bench was outscored big time. Led by Nick Collison and James Harden, the Thunders’ bench outpaced the Kings bench 32 to 19 and the home team beat the Kings by 15.
Kings Lose.
Kings 87 OKC 102
Leaders
Kings- Evans (22) Points; Cousins (16) Rebounds; Evans (6) Assists.
OKC- Durant (24) Points; Ibaka (10) Rebounds; Westbrook (6) Assists.
Team Kings OKC
FG% 42.7% 48.1%
Rebounds 42 43
Assists/TO 15/15 23/13
Player of the Game: The high scoring duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Thunders’ super star and his side kick were too much for the Kings to handle, scoring a combined 45 points on 16-32 shooting. More than the points they scored, the tandem required so much attention that other players were able to break free for quality games as well.
The Difference Maker: Nick Collison. I never thought I would type those words, but the Kansas product put up an impressive 12 points and 8 rebounds. The offensively limited Collison hurt the Kings with his hustle rebounds and put backs in crucial moments of the game.
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