Kings get ‘embarrassed’ by Thunder as trade rumors continue to swirl around De’Aaron Fox
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie keeps telling his players the court is their sanctuary as trade talks swirl around De’Aaron Fox, but there was no shelter from the storm that hit them Saturday night in Oklahoma City.
Aaron Wiggins erupted for a career-high 41 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 144-110 victory over the visiting Kings at Paycom Center. Wiggins, who started with Jalen Williams out due to a wrist injury, easily surpassed his previous career high of 28 points and his season average of 9.3 points per game.
“We didn’t play hard, didn’t compete, got embarrassed, got our ass kicked,” Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said. “Whatever the reason, whatever we did or didn’t do, it’s about how we respond from here.”
Oklahoma City shot 53.3% from the field and 41.3% from 3-point range while the Kings shot 40% overall and 25% from long distance. The Thunder outrebounded the Kings 70-37, had a 24-11 advantage in second-chance points, outscored them 74-50 on points in the paint and led by as many as 37.
Christie called his team’s performance “unacceptable,” refusing to use Fox’s uncertain future as an excuse.
“There are absolutely no excuses,” Christie said. “There are no excuses. We don’t work with excuses. I don’t work with excuses. When we throw the ball up, we are paid to go out there and play a beautiful game with our hearts, and that’s what we’re going to do. It doesn’t matter what’s going on.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points and nine assists for the Thunder (38-9), which sits atop the Western Conference. Luguentz Dort scored 20 points and Kenrich Williams came off the bench to bench to post 18 points and 11 rebounds while Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Fox scored 20 points to lead the Kings (24-24), who have lost four of their last five as part of a six-game road trip.
Malik Monk had 19 points and seven assists. DeRozan scored 17 points. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“We didn’t play hard, man, simple as that,” Monk said.
The Kings led 17-16 midway through the first quarter after going 8 of 13 from the field to start the game. Monk had the hot hand early, scoring 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting over the first six minutes. The Thunder responded with an 11-2 run and led 36-31 at the end of the first period.
Oklahoma City took a 14-point lead on a basket by Dort with 6:58 to play in the second quarter. The Thunder went up by 20 on a driving layup by Gilgeous-Alexander and carried an 82-55 lead into the halftime break.
The Kings made a couple of runs to get within 23 in the third quarter. They cut the deficit to 21 early in the fourth, but they couldn’t get any closer.
With most of the starters on the bench and Wiggins gunning for 40 points late in the fourth quarter, Monk went to the halfcourt line to say something to teammate Mason Jones.
“I was mad,” Monk said. “I was mad as s---, but we should have done something about that in the first three quarters.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2025 at 9:30 PM.
