Sacramento Kings can’t hang with best in the West in blowout loss to Oklahoma City Thunder
Aaron Wiggins scored a career-high 41 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 144-110 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Saturday night at Paycom Center.
Wiggins surpassed his previous career high of 28 points. He went into the game averaging 9.3 points per game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, six rebounds and nine assists for the Thunder (38-9), which has the best record in the Western Conference.
De’Aaron Fox scored 20 points to lead the Kings (24-23), who have lost four of their last five as part of a six-game road trip.
The Kings will be back in action Monday when they visit the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Stat leaders
Malik Monk had 19 points and seven assists for Sacramento. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Injury update
Oklahoma City was already missing one of its best players with Chet Holmgren still recovering from a pelvic fracture. The Thunder lost another starter Saturday when Jalen Williams, the team’s second-leading scorer at 21.1 points per game, was ruled out due to a right wrist sprain.
Halftime report
The Kings only trailed by eight following a 3-pointer by Fox with 7:58 to play in the second quarter, but the Thunder staged a 21-6 run to take a commanding lead. Oklahoma City led by as many as 29 points and carried an 82-55 lead into the locker room at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Aaron Wiggins had 19 points after going 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
DeRozan scored 13 points to lead the Kings. Fox, Monk and Sabonis had 12 points apiece.
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie went 10 deep with Keon Ellis, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, Devin Carter and Isaac Jones all getting minutes, but Sacramento was outscored 14-0 in points off the bench.
Second half
The Kings made a bit of a run 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.
Up next
The Kings will conclude a six-game road trip when they face the Timberwolves on Monday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Timberwolves (27-21) had won five in a row before suffering a 105-103 loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday. They are seventh in the West, 1 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 6 seed.
This story was originally published February 1, 2025 at 8:31 PM.
