Oklahoma City Thunder Play 2 Different Halves, Rally Behind Chet Holmgren, But Fall Short: 3 Takeaways

Hot on the heels of a trip to Denver to face the reining NBA Champion Nuggets, the Oklahoma City Thunder needed every win they could get. 

Sitting just half a game back from the No. 2 seed, Oklahoma City has had no shortage of success this season, especially following a season that nobody quite expected. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has continued to impress with every passing game and Josh Giddey has certainly picked things up on the court since his slow start.,

The Thunder took home back-to-back wins against the Warriors and Jazz prior to facing the Kings, and looked to make a two-game win streak a three-game one in order to have peak momentum heading to Denver. 

Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. 

Oklahoma City fell in a hard-fought game to the Sacramento Kings and disrupted its winning momentum, though knocking off Denver isn't out of the question by any means. The Thunder's loss to the Kings wasn't absent of positives, however, especially against a Sacramento squad that's also firmly in contention for the playoffs. 

Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma City's Thursday night defeat. 

1) A Tale of Two Halves

What good is putting up 70 points in 24 minutes of play if it doesn't work out?

That's likely the question facing many Thunder fans as they look back on Thursday night's loss. Oklahoma City played extremely well in the back half of their matchup against the Kings. It notched two straight quarters of 30 points or more and made the entire second half respectable, but it couldn't quite get over the hump.

And as silly as it sounds, that was due to its second quarter.

Right off the bat, both teams made clear that they were prepared to play. The Kings were down just one point after the first quarter, and both squads — led by Fox and Gilgeous-Alexander, respectively — were gearing up for a competitive game.

It certainly was, through all four quarters, but it was Oklahoma City's low (relatively speaking) second quarter that sunk it down to a six-point deficit at the half. When it came back out, however, it found a groove right away. The Thunder scored 39 points in the third and 31 in the fourth — outscoring the Kings by 2 overall — and had just about every shot it wanted down the stretch, but misses accrued and Oklahoma City lost. It was sunk by one low-scoring quarter. 

Basketball takes two to tango — and two halves to win. The Thunder was just barely too inconsistent to come out victorious.

2) Holmgren's Continued Clutch Success

San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama has registered six straight double-doubles, and unfortunately for a Rookie of the Year race as tight as this year's, that's all it took for Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren to fall down to second place. 

Rest assured, he's far from out of the race. The NBA season still has nearly 60 games to go and the honor is anyone's. That's why Holmgren isn't worried about it.

And he proved that Thursday. 

Oklahoma City's center tallied a double-double himself with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but even though he wasn't sky-high points-wise, his impact was felt. Down the stretch — which by NBA standards, met the "clutch" criteria — Holmgren recorded two key blocks to keep his team in the game. 

The second of those came with 2:50 to play, when Oklahoma City was down by just two points. Not only did he block shots, but he held his own on the defensive end and truly meshed into the system that's made the Thunder so successful. Even though it lost, Holmgren's performance was a bright spot. It was encouraging. 

The rookie isn't afraid of big moments, and that's been abundantly clear thus far.

3) 3-Point Devastation Holds No Bounds

A 30-percent shooting clip from 3-point range isn't a bad mark to be at, but unfortunately for the Thunder, it wanes in comparison to 40 percent. 

The latter figure is where the Kings shot Thursday night, as they drained 21 points more in deep makes than Oklahoma City, including a stretch where they hit eight in a span of 13 minutes. 

As the Thunder worked to get themselves back into the game, especially late, the Kings responded with 3-pointers to give themselves a slight edge, though it was demoralizing enough to ultimately keep Oklahoma City from coming all the way back.

For a team shooting well from deep — and possessing one of the league's frontrunners for Sixth Man of the Year honors with a 40-percent clip of his own — the Thunder entered its matchup against the Kings knowing the difference maker could be from beyond the arc. It made 11 and held its own despite a continued onslaught from Sacramento, but when playing a game from behind, being out-shot from deep doesn't do you any good.

3-point devastation holds no bounds. Oklahoma City found that out the hard way.

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