Undermanned and overmatched. The Sacramento King started out hot against the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday evening at Golden 1 Center, but once coach Dave Joerger went to the bench, the game got out of control in a hurry.
OKC’s big three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Steven Adams put up dominant performances and the the shorthanded Kings didn’t have enough firepower to keep up.
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Sacramento made it a game going to the fourth quarter, but the Thunder kept charging to come away with the 132-113 victory.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings fell to the Thunder to drop to 16-15 on the season.
No Shump, No Bueno
Iman Shumpert went to work against George in the first two matchups between these two teams. With him sidelined, George got loose.
NBA
The All-Star forward dropped 43 points on 15-of-27 shooting and added 12 rebounds and seven assists.
George is a tough matchup on most nights, but the Kings made him look like an MVP.
Speed on Speed
De’Aaron Fox recently made the claim that he is the fastest player in the NBA. Westbrook seems to have taken exception to the comment.
Fox flashed his speed up and down the court, finishing the night with 28 points, 12 assists and three steals.
Westbrook answered with a 19-point, 17-assist, 11-rebound triple-double and added six steals in the win.
Career Night
Buddy Hield has scored 30 points couple of times in his career, but never more. Against the Thunder, he carried the Kings for long stretches and came away with a huge scoring night.
Hield knocked down 7-for-14 from long range to post a new career-high in points with 37. He added six rebounds and three assists in the loss.
