OKLAHOMA CITY – After the latest and worst loss of their seven-game losing streak, the Kings hurried to escape the arena.

A tornado touched down earlier in nearby Norman, Okla., and persistent rough weather threatened to keep the team's charter flight grounded in Oklahoma City.

After the Thunder routed the Kings 115-89 Friday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena, no one could blame them for rushing to get out of town.

"We play good and hard in spurts, but against a team like that, we have to play hard all the time," said Kings guard Marcus Thornton.

The losing streak is the Kings' longest of the season and Friday's loss the worst of that stretch that has included defeats of 10, 15 and 17 points.

The Kings lost six consecutive games Feb. 11-21.

Sacramento trailed 23-21 after the first quarter, but the Thunder's Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka had already set the tone with their physical play.

"Your best players have got to play well on the road," said Kings coach Keith Smart. "It's going to be a tough time to beat this team, and this team is at a different level, but you've got to match their physicality. … And if you don't match, it you're going to be pushed all over the floor."

Isaiah Thomas led the Kings (19-41) with 21 points.

DeMarcus Cousins had only nine points and 12 rebounds on 3-of-14 shooting. Tyreke Evans had two points, a career low, playing only 14 minutes after picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter.

Thornton had 12 points.

Oklahoma City's two All-Stars dominated the game – forward Kevin Durant had 29 points and nine rebounds and guard Russell Westbrook had 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Neither played in the fourth quarter.

It all fell apart for the Kings thanks to turnovers and bad defense in the second period, during which Oklahoma City went 15 of 20 from the floor.

The Kings shot 8 of 18 and committed seven turnovers that led to 11 points for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City went on a 20-4 run in the final 5:37 of the first half to take a 58-39 lead and coast to a win.

Ibaka blocked seven shots for the Thunder (43-16), which played without Sixth Man of the Year candidate James Harden (sore right knee).

With the Kings trailing big, Smart pulled all his starters, except Jason Thompson, out the game for the entire fourth quarter.

Smart deviated from his plan to play his starters a lot to close the season, gaining them experience competing against playoff-caliber teams.

"We were down 25, 30 points, so I was going to play the other guys," Smart said.

"We weren't going to catch up in the game the way we were playing, so I was going to look at other guys to play."

The Kings play the Thunder two more times in their final six games after beating Oklahoma City on Feb. 9 in Sacramento.

The Kings insist they want to show they can compete with the best as the season ends.

On Friday, the best of the Western Conference got the best of them.

"If this doesn't give our guys (motivation for) redemption, I don't know what will," Thompson said.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

• Read more articles by Jason Jones

Order Reprint