Oklahoma City Thunder scored a 112-108 victory over Sacramento Kings on Thursday as Danilo Gallinari made 24 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20. Along with seven assists, Chris Paul added 17 points, and Steve Adams chipped in 15 points.
According to Sacramento, their point guard De'Aaron Fox missed the fixture due to lower abdominal tightness.
Sacramento's three-game streak ends
Dennis Schroder recorded 13 points and seven assists and Nerlens Noel had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder, who connected on 48.8 percent of their shots and were 9 of 26 from behind the arc.
Harrison Barnes scored 21 points and Harry Giles III added 19 as Sacramento had a three-game winning streak halted. Nemanja Bjelica recorded 18 points and nine rebounds, Buddy Hield had 15 points on five 3-pointers while Bogdan Bogdanovic and Alex Len added 11 points apiece.
The Kings shot 45.1 percent from the field, including 12 of 35 from 3-point range. Len collected 11 rebounds and Cory Joseph had 11 assists in place of Fox. Baskets by Giles and Barnes allowed Sacramento to move within 110-108 with 9.9 seconds left. Paul hit two free throws with 9.5 seconds to play before Hield air-balled a 3-pointer and Oklahoma City ran out the clock.
The Kings scored the first six points of the third quarter to open up a 67-50 lead. Bjelica knocked down two 3-pointers during a 33-second span to push the Sacramento advantage to 78-59 with 7:03 remaining.
Thunders dominate the third quarter
Oklahoma City dominated the rest of the quarter with a 22-4 burst to move within 82-81 entering the final stanza. Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down an 8-footer 27 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Thunder their first lead since the opening period.
A 3-pointer by Gallinari and layup by Gilgeous-Alexander gave Oklahoma City a 100-97 lead with 4:12 left. Paul then drained a 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 burst and give the Thunder a six-point lead with 3:32 left.
Giles scored 15 points to help the Kings hold a 61-50 lead at the break. Sacramento used a 17-3 run that began late in the first quarter to take a 38-28 lead with 8:40 remaining in the half. The Thunder pulled within 47-43 on Gallinari's three-point play with 4:11 left before the Kings closed strong with Bogdanovic's 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left accounting for the 11-point halftime bulge.
(With agency inputs)
