Haliburton shines in Kings’ win over Thunder as Oklahoma City’s COVID-19 outbreak worsens
Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox had a message for Tyrese Haliburton after watching him flourish as the team’s floor leader while he was out due to NBA health and safety protocols.
“He said just keep doing what you’re doing,” Haliburton said. “That was big for me confidence-wise to know my running mate, the guy next to me, is telling me to do the same thing.”
Haliburton did those same things again Tuesday night at Golden 1 Center, posting his fifth double-double in six games to help the Kings snap a three-game losing streak with a 117-111 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Haliburton had 24 points and 10 assists with two blocked shots, making 9 of 14 field-goal attempts and 5 of 8 from 3-point range.
“I thought Ty was really, really spectacular,” interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry said. “He did a great job and made some big shots for us.”
Buddy Hield added 21 points for the Kings (14-21). He finished 7 of 14 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point range after going 0-for-3 to start the game.
Harrison Barnes had 17 points. Fox had 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting with five rebounds and eight assists. Damian Jones came off the bench to grab a career-high 14 rebounds while Marvin Bagley III posted nine points and 10 rebounds in his second start of the season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points for the Thunder (12-21), but he finished 9 of 24 from the field. Luguentz Dort had 19 points and eight rebounds.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, Darius Bazley, Derrick Favors, Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Alexsej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl were all out due to NBA health and safety protocols. Daigneault, Giddey and Favors all entered the league’s protocol system Tuesday morning after arriving in Sacramento on Monday evening.
“We tested when we got here,” said acting coach Mike Wilks, who found out he was coaching the team when Daigneault called him Tuesday morning. “You see what’s happening throughout the league. … We knew there was a possibility a situation like this could arise.”
The Kings were still missing Davion Mitchell and Neemias Queta. Alex Len cleared protocols earlier in the day, but he was held out of Tuesday’s game for reconditioning. Gentry said he believes Mitchell will be cleared to return Wednesday when the Kings play host to the Dallas Mavericks, who have several players out due to health and safety protocols, including Luka Doncic.
The Kings were clinging to a four-point lead after giving up 57 first-half points to a team that is last in the league in scoring at 100.1 points per game. The Kings trailed 76-72 with 5:10 to play in the third period, but they closed the quarter with a 15-5 run to take an 87-81 lead into the fourth.
The Kings finally created some separation early in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Thunder 11-0 over the first four minutes to take a 98-81 lead. Oklahoma City cut the deficit to single digits in the final minute, but by then it was too late.
“At this stage, we just needed a win, and I thought we did a good job,” Gentry said. “I know they ended up with 111 points, but they had 22 points in the last four minutes of the game, obviously going to the free-throw line, so I thought our defense was pretty solid. We just need to be able to close out games a little bit better.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 11:16 PM.
