Thunder Dethrone Kings Behind Hartenstein's Career Night

By Isaiah Magar | KZA Sports

Sacramento, California

The Thunder visited Sacramento to continue their road trip with a test in the Emirates NBA Cup against the Kings. It was a back-and-forth start with the Thunder spreading the ball around early for an 8-6 lead. Drew Eubanks hit his first three shots for the kings, accounting for all six of their first points. But from that point on the Thunder went off. accumulating an 11-point lead before Russell Westbrook decided to take over with his shooting. The Kings hit seven threes in the opening period with Russ hitting three of four, leading the Kings to a 32-30 lead after the first quarter.

The second quarter was a whole different story as the Thunder stormed ahead on the back of Isaiah Hartenstein who scored 15 in the period, giving him 20 points in the first half to go along with 10 rebounds in only 14 minutes. The Kings offense felt much more stagnant as they were only able to put up 24 points in the second quarter. Westbrook remained the driving force behind any little offensive consistency the Kings experienced and he ended the half with 16 points and seven assists. The Thunder put up 40 points in the second quarter to give them a 70-56 halftime lead.

Hartenstein's big night continued into the third quarter as he put up another eight points and five boards, giving him a new career high in points (28) and a season high in rebounds (15). But the main star for Oklahoma City in the third was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who put up 15 points in the quarter to give him 30 through three. OKC outscored Sacramento 28-27 in the period even though Russ continued to try and carry his team to victory. But the Kings were only able to knock down two three-pointers in the third and the best they could do was limit the bleeding. The Thunder took a 98-83 lead to the fourth.

The fourth quarter was all Thunder from the start. Scoring 34 and allowing only 18 points ballooned the Oklahoma City lead to insurmountable proportions. Starters were taken out of the game with more than five minutes to play and it was all downhill from there. Hartenstein finished the contest with a game high 33 points, 19 rebounds, and three blocks in 31 minutes. SGA added 30 on 60% shooting. The Kings looked completely lethargic after their excellent opening quarter and they were unable to really oppose the size of the Thunder with Sabonis sitting with a rib injury. Oklahoma City kept the beam dimmed as they pummeled Sacramento 132-101.

Next up, the Thunder will head to Memphis to face the Grizzlies and close out their four-game road trip.

The Kings will host the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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