The Sacramento Kings entered Sunday afternoon as 10-point underdogs to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that was before it was known whether one-time NBA MVP Russell Westbrook would suit up.
Westbrook not only played, but he managed to score 32 points, grab 12 rebounds and dish out eight assists in the Thunder’s home opener. It wasn’t nearly enough.
Sacramento shocked OKC, running the home team off the court for a 131-120 victory to improve to 1-2 on the season. Seven players scored in double-figures as the Kings continued their early season offensive outburst.
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Here are seven notes from the Kings’ first win of the season:
Iman Fire
Iman Shumpert was unstoppable early. The veteran scored 16 of his team-high 26 points in a wild first quarter. Dave Joerger took a gamble starting Shump at the wing and it paid off big time. The Kings need someone to step forward and give them a presence at the small forward spot. For one night, Shumpert was the guy.
Now he has to find a way to stay healthy and give his team consistent production.
NBA
Three-game streak
De’Aaron Fox is rolling. He walked into the season with a new mindset and has shown leadership, scoring and playmaking ability through three games. Against Westbrook, his favorite player, Fox scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, adding 10 assists and four rebounds.
He’s now averaging 20.3 points, 7.7 assists and five rebounds while shooting 52.5 percent from the field in 35 minutes per game.
Slow start, big finish
Buddy Hield picked up three fouls early and spent most of the first half watching his teammates drop 68 points on the Thunder. He bounced back in the second half, scoring 12 of his 17 points after the intermission.
Hield is giving the Kings a nice scoring option early in the season, averaging 17.7 points in a little over 27 minutes per game.
Bagley attacks the rim
Marvin Bagley is starting to slow down. The rookie showed off his motor against a the Thunder, scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 24 minutes. He’s going to make plenty of mistakes, but the 19-year-old looks like he’s on a pogo stick in the paint, turning offensive rebounds into poster dunks.
Per 36 minutes, the former Duke star is already averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He has a lot to learn, but there is plenty to like from what he is bring to the team so far.
Harry Giles shows growth
The rookie waited an extra year to get his pro career started, and he struggled to get his jitters under control in the first two games. In his third pro contest, he seemed to calm down early, and then gave Joerger some quality minutes against Steven Adams.
Giles stuffed stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 16 minutes. His work keeping Adams off the glass helped stem the tide in this game.
Board when it matters
Willie Cauley-Stein struggled on the glass early, grabbing just a single rebound through the first three quarters. He went to work when the game was on the line in the fourth, grabbing six rebounds during the period to finish with 13 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes.
Adams is a tough cover for Cauley-Stein, but he made adjustments and helped finish off the win for Sacramento.
Kings can score
Sacramento came into the game averaging 123 points per game. They continued their scoring output, scoring 131 points against one of the league's top-10 defenses from last season.
The Kings shot 54.9 percent from the field on 91 shots, and knocked down 10-for-22 from long range. Sacramento is now averaging 125.7 points per game on 52.8 percent shooting from the field and 40.9 percent from behind the arc.