Led by 48 points from De’Aaron Fox and Iman Shumpert, the Sacramento Kings knocked off the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road 131-120.
Recap
Iman Shumpert started out hot and never cooled off, going for 26 points (one shy of his career-high) on 9/13 shooting to help propel the Sacramento Kings to an upset win over the Thunder.
Despite OKC getting star-PG Russell Westbrook (32p/12r/8a) back from injury, the Thunder weren’t able to keep up with a balanced onslaught of offense from this young Kings team. Seven players scored in double-figures for Sacramento, including all five starters, leading the Kings to just their second-ever victory in Oklahoma City.
Defense was again a non-factor, but it proved inconsequential for a young Kings squad averaging 125.6 points per game. Yes, you read that right. De’Aaron Fox notched his first double-double of the season to lead a septet of Kings in double-figures, posting 22 points and 11 assists, to go along with Nemanja Bjelica’s 12 points; Shumpert’s 26; Buddy Hield’s 17; Willie Cauley-Stein’s 13; Marvin Bagley III’s 13 points and Justin Jackson’s 11.
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Sacramento led this game throughout, conceding the lead only briefly in the second-quarter, before regaining to end the half up 68-56. The Kings started to stretch the lead a bit in the third, building up to an 18 point lead before OKC was able to claw back to down just seven at the end of three-quarters of play.
The Thunder got as close as four points back before the Kings put the combat bid down for good with a three From Buddy Hield followed by a quick two from Willie Cauley-Stein that put them up 11 with 1:51 to play.