Overview
- Oklahoma City beat Sacramento 107-101 at Paycom Center on Tuesday to extend the defending champions’ unbeaten start to 5-0.
- The Thunder held the Kings to 18 fourth-quarter points and took control late on Luguentz Dort’s go-ahead 3, an Alex Caruso triple with 46 seconds left, and a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander step-back 3 with 16 seconds remaining.
- Chet Holmgren was ruled out with lower back soreness, while Alex Caruso returned from concussion protocol as OKC continued to navigate early-season absences including Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe.
- Aaron Wiggins and rookie Ajay Mitchell supplied 18 points apiece as key support, complementing Gilgeous-Alexander’s late-game surge.
- Zach LaVine scored 23 for the Kings, DeMar DeRozan added 19, Domantas Sabonis posted 10 points and 18 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook had 16 in his first start, with Sacramento continuing its road trip in Chicago on Wednesday.