NBA: Kings lead most of way, breeze past Thunder
Harrison Barnes #40 of the Sacramento Kings in action against the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center on December 29, 2021 in Sacramento, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
Harrison Barnes led Sacramento with 24 points Saturday night as the Kings led most of the way — pulling away in the third quarter — to beat the visiting Oklahoma Thunder, 113-103.
Moe Harkless had 18 points, Davion Mitchell 17, Richaun Holmes 14 and Tyrese Haliburton 13 to complement a career-high 17 assists. Sacramento’s starters combined for 86 points in the Kings’ second win in their last three games.
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Rookie Josh Giddey led Oklahoma City with his season-best 24 points, Darius Bazley had 18 and Tre Mann 16. The Thunder saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.
The Kings never trailed in the first half but found themselves down 66-65 after a Giddey 3-pointer in the third minute of the third quarter.
Article continues after this advertisementThe game was subsequently tied twice before Haliburton had a three-point play in a seven-point Kings burst. The Thunder scored the next seven points, including a 3-pointer by Mann, to tie the game again at 75-all.
Down 89-79 after three periods, the Thunder never got closer than seven over the final 12 minutes.
The Kings won the game at the 3-point line, where they outshot the Thunder 37.5 percent to 30.0 percent and outscored them 36-27.
Harkless made four 3-pointers and combined with Mitchell (three) and Buddy Hield (three) for 10 of the Kings’ 12 treys.
Barnes went 8-for-17 from the field and added nine rebounds, two shy of Harkless’ game-high total.
Haliburton’s 17 assists were four more than his previous career high. The double-double was his 14th of the season and 19th in his two NBA years.
Both teams shot well, with the Kings enjoying a 51.8 percent to 48.3 percent advantage. Holmes was the most accurate of the hosts on a 6-for-7 night.
Giddey added a team-high eight assists. His previous scoring high was 21 points.
Aleksej Pokusevski chipped in with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench for Oklahoma City, which had opened a three-game trip with wins at Dallas and Portland.
