Even Josh Giddey’s best game of the season and a 43-point effort from superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was not enough for the Thunder in a 128-123 loss to the Kings.
Sacramento looked to be cruising to a comfortable win after jumping out to a 117-104 lead heading into the final six minutes, with De’Aaron Fox putting up six points and two assists.
But Oklahoma City was able to get it to 119-117 after going on a 13-2 run, with Giddey making a deep two-pointer to cut the difference to a pair with three minutes on the clock.
“He has been so instrumental,” Chris Fischer said in commentary.
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Green suspended by NBA ‘indefinitely’ | 00:34
Fox though, as he had done all game, continued to stand tall down the stretch for the Kings as Sacramento held on for the win despite some defensive miscommunication late which left Chet Holmgren open under the rim for an easy dunk to give the Thunder a chance.
That Holmgren bucket put OKC down 126-123 with three seconds left but Sacramento had the next possession, forcing the Thunder to quickly foul Keegan Murray.
Murray had already made two clutch free throws down the stretch and had no issues putting the result beyond doubt as a two-possession ball game, with the Thunder going down 128-123.
Murray had 15 points in the win while Fox led the way with 41 points and seven assists. Damontas Sabonis, meanwhile, had 18 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists.
Malik Monk (4-for-8) and Keon Ellis (5-for-7) accounted for half of Sacramento’s 3-pointers with valuable production off the bench.
Giddey, meanwhile, had his best game of the season as the Australian guard scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
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The 21-year-old made a pair of 3-pointers too in the third quarter, going on to score 10 points in the period to help the Thunder keep in touch with the Fox-inspired Kings.
“My goodness,” Michael Cage said in commentary.
“He is just on fire.”
Giddey had been in the spotlight after opposition defences started sagging off him, daring the young guard to shoot from deep.
While the shooting may not always be consistently there if Giddey keeps rebounding and defending the way he did on Friday he will be able to impact winning in other ways.
CLIPPERS CONTINUE TO FLY WHILE WARRIORS FLOP AGAIN
Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors dropped a third-straight game as the Los Angeles Clippers continued their fine form to surge up the Western Conference standings.
The Warriors, who were without Draymond Green after he was indefinitely suspended by the NBA for swinging an arm to the head of Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic, sit 11th in the West and three wins back from the 10th placed Suns.
Steph Curry had an off shooting night, going 3-for-13 from downtown to finish with 17 points.
Fortunately for Golden State Klay Thompson was on a heater and able to keep things close, draining eight 3-pointers in defeat to put up a game-high 30 points.
Still it was not enough for the Warriors to arrest a concerning form slump.
Coach Steve Kerr had made changes to the starting line-up, moving Andrew Wiggins to the bench, while Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski joined the opening five.
Kerr on Friday backed the NBA’s decision to issue an indefinite suspension on Green, saying the open-ended ban gave the Warriors star a chance to change his ways.
“I think the suspension makes sense,” Kerr said.
“To me, this is about more than basketball. It’s about helping Draymond.
“It’s an opportunity for Draymond to step away and to make a change in his approach, in his life. And that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Kerr said the league’s five-game suspension of Green after the Gobert incident last month justified the stiffer penalty for this week’s latest flashpoint.
“You don’t just say ‘We’re going to do five games and he’s going to be fine’,” Kerr said.
“The league did that with five games after the incident with Rudy. That’s not the answer, to pick a number.
“The answer is to help Draymond and give him the help he needs, give him the opportunity to make a change that will not only help him and help our team, but help him for the rest of his life.”
Meanwhile, the Clippers have won six in a row and keep climbing up the standings in the West with the team’s struggles in the wake of its James Harden trade now a distant memory.
Harden brought out 25,000 career points in the win, finishing with a team-high 28 points to go with 15 assists, seven rebounds and four blocks while running mate Kawhi Leonard had 27 points.
The Clippers were without star forward Paul George, who left Wednesday’s game against the Kings with left groin soreness.
Speaking in the wake of that win Clippers coach Ty Lue said George could have returned to the game if needed and while he was unavailable to play against Golden State the fact the All-Star forward was listed as questionable suggests a return won’t be far away.
T’WOLVES FLEX CHAMPIONSHIP MUSCLES AGAINST MAVS
Earlier, Luka Doncic scored 39 points but could not prevent the Dallas Mavericks falling to a 119-101 home defeat against the top of the table Minnesota Timberwolves.
Slovenian star Doncic extended his run of consecutive 30-point games to nine after shooting 15-of-27 from the field in an entertaining duel with Western Conference-leading Minnesota.
It was the 24-year-old’s 78th game scoring 35 points or more, tying the mark of revered Dallas icon Dirk Nowitzki, the sixth-highest scorer in NBA history.
Nowitzki, who played 21 seasons for the Texas franchise, achieved his tally of 35-point games in 1,522 appearances; Doncic has matched that total in 352 games.
The Mavericks looked ready to upset the Wolves after taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter.
But Minnesota came back to cut the lead to one point at half-time and then outscored Dallas 60-41 in the second half to seal victory.
Naz Reid led the Minnesota scoring with 27 off the bench with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 21. Anthony Edwards was held to just nine points.
Dallas were left ruing an inability to make shots from three-point range. Doncic made just 2-of-7 from beyond the arc, Grant Williams 1-of-7 and Tim Hardaway Jr. 0-of-7.
“It’s just one of those nights,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said.
“We got great looks, they just didn’t go down for us tonight.
“So we can’t be discouraged. There’s a lot of positive things. Minnesota’s the best team in the league and we felt we were playing well. Give them credit. But again, we had some great looks.”
Minnesota’s victory leaves them 2.5 games clear of second-placed Oklahoma at the top of the Western Conference with a 18-5 record.
JOKIC RESPONDS IN EMPHATIC FASHION AFTER EJECTION
The reigning champion Denver Nuggets kept up their pursuit of the Wolves with a 124-101 rout of the Brooklyn Nets to improve to 17-9.
Denver star Nikola Jokic, controversially ejected on Tuesday during the win over Chicago, returned in style with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, the Serbian’s 10th triple-double of the season.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic is the only player to achieve at least 10 triple doubles in seven consecutive seasons.
CELTICS, BULLS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
In Boston meanwhile the Celtics extended their unbeaten home record to 12 games with a 116-107 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a two-game sweep.
Jayson Tatum led the scoring with 27 points for the Celtics, who head the standings with 18 wins and five losses, 1.5 games ahead of the second-placed Milwaukee Bucks.
Tatum received scoring support from Jaylen Brown, with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis added 18 points and six rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland’s offensive effort with 31 points, Caris LeVert adding 26 off the bench.
In Miami the Heat slipped to a 124-116 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls saw four players post 20 points or more, with Coby White leading the scoring with 26 points.