Thunder, Kings look to clean up their play on Sunday
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Now that Magic Johnson is behind him -- again -- Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook can set his triple-double vision on Wilt Chamberlain.
He'd rather put his immediate focus on getting his team back to its winning ways.
In Sacramento, finding a winning way has been a challenge going on for a decade.
The teams take the Golden 1 Center court for the second time in six weeks on Sunday night, and they've both been a bit up and down since they last saw one another. Both will be playing after ugly losses.
The Thunder (24-17) saw their three-game winning streak end in a sea of lousy shooting and even worse ball-handling in a loss at Minnesota on Friday night. The performance took such considerable glow off Westbrook's 19th triple-double of the season that the NBA's most-prolific triple-double performer since the ABA merger told reporters his achievement "don't mean (expletive)."
The Kings (16-23) were plagued with turnovers, too, as well as another awful start and lost for the fifth time in their past six home games. They are 1-4 on a seven-game homestand and 2-6 since a season-best four-game winning streak last month.
One thing the teams have in common: They aren't protecting the ball.
Sacramento turned it over nine times in the first quarter and 21 overall in a 120-108 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. Oklahoma City had 19 turnovers and the Minnesota Timberwolves turned them into 33 points in a 96-86 victory on Friday.
"It happens like that," Westbrook said. "Nights like that, you got to ready and move on to the next one."
Sacramento's slow start against Cleveland was nothing unusual. The Kings have fallen behind by double digits in the first half in three of their past four home losses.
"With our starts, we need to be as amped up as we can to have some energy before games," Kings guard Garrett Temple said. "We've got to come out and execute the game plan, no matter what it is."
The Thunder loss ended a streak that started after a three-game skid, the team's only blip in a 16-9 stretch that started immediately after they dropped a 116-101 decision at Sacramento on Nov. 23.
Westbrook fell one assist shy of putting up a triple-double in that one, scoring 31 points to go with 11 rebounds and nine assists. Sacramento harassed him into 7-of-18 shooting from the floor and three turnovers. He also fell a rebound shy of posting a triple-double in each of Oklahoma City's victories during its winning streak.
In all, Westbrook has triple-doubled in 46 percent of Oklahoma City's games. The 19 match his total from 80 games last season.
No player has surpassed that mark since the NBA absorbed four teams after the ABA collapsed in 1976. Johnson had 18 in 1982-83, a record that stood for 32 seasons until Westbrook broke it last year in his 80th game.
Chamberlain had 31 for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967-68 before the NBA-ABA merger.