Was a hot Buddy Hield enough for the Kings to weather a Thunder storm?

Here are three takeaways from the Kings’ 132-113 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center:

Hield’s career high not enough

Buddy Hield helped the Kings come to life after they fell behind by 23 in the second half, but their comeback came up short against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The Kings (16-15) spent much of the evening looking lethargic and out of sorts. They battled back to get within eight late in the third quarter, but the Thunder (20-10) withstood the charge thanks to big-time performances from their two biggest stars.

Paul George posted 43 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds.

George and Westbrook made play after play to thwart the efforts of Hield, who scored a career-high 37 points. Hield made 11 of 25 field-goal attempts and 7 of 14 from 3-point range to eclipse his previous career high of 30 points, set against the Phoenix Suns on April 11, 2017.

De’Aaron Fox had 28 points and 12 assists for the Kings, who have lost three of their last four.

Oklahoma City led 71-52 at the break and extended its lead in the second half. Steven Adams’ dunk put the Thunder up 82-59 with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter. That’s when the Kings’ comeback began.

Justin Jackson drained a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper. Hield made two free throws and a 3-pointer. Fox followed with a step-back jumper from 22 feet, capping a 12-1 run that cut the Thunder’s lead to 12 with 5:25 to play in the third period.

The Kings later got within eight on back-to-back 3-pointers by Fox and Hield, but George and Westbrook prevented them from getting any closer.

Something about Harry

Before the game, the Kings reassigned rookie Harry Giles III to their G League affiliate in Stockton for the second time in fewer than six weeks. The decision to send Giles back to Stockton is curious, given fellow rookie big man Marvin Bagley III is out with a bone bruise in his left knee.

Giles has posted modest averages of 5.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 10 minutes per game this season but has flashed tremendous potential on the rare occasion he gets significant playing time. He ranks among rookie leaders with averages per 36 minutes of 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals.

Giles’ previous G League stint lasted one game. He scored 30 points in 23 minutes against the Agua Caliente Clippers before being recalled by Sacramento. The next night, he put up 12 points and six rebounds in the Kings’ victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Giles briefly regained a place at the back end of coach Dave Joerger’s rotation, but his minutes mysteriously disappeared after he filled the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots in 20 minutes against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 25. Giles scored 13 points in 10 minutes in a blowout victory over the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 4. He logged three minutes total over the next six games before scoring 13 points in 22 minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

Bagley, Bogdanovic, Shumpert sit out

Bagley wasn’t the only one out of the lineup for the Kings on Wednesday night. Iman Shumpert was sidelined with a right hip contusion and Bogdan Bogdanovic missed the game with a sore right foot. Both are listed as day-to-day.

Shumpert has missed three games after hurting his hip in Friday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, though he was officially listed as out due to personal reasons against Minnesota on Monday. Shumpert has missed seven games this season. The Kings are 3-4 when he does not play and 4-9 when he logs fewer than 23 minutes.

The injuries to Shumpert and Bogdanovic left the Kings with little wing depth. Justin Jackson started at small forward with Troy Williams coming off the bench. The Kings announced they had reassigned Williams to Stockton on Wednesday morning, but they reversed that decision after determining Shumpert and Bogdanovic would not play against Oklahoma City.

This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 10:28 PM.