Kings hold off Thunder despite Westbrook’s return
SACRAMENTO — The boos followed Russell Westbrook every time he touched the ball. They started when he re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, a response to an earlier altercation.
They faded into cheers as the Kings beat the Thunder 117-113 at the Golden 1 Center on Monday.
Westbrook returned to the Thunder after missing two weeks for a sprained left ankle and the birth of his twin daughters Saturday. He finished the game with 29 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, but it was short of a glorious return to OKC (10-6).
Whether it was the boos or the high stakes, Westbrook turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter. He still took some inadvisable 3-point shots, but he also made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points.
With 17 seconds left on the clock, Westbrook bent over in the Thunder huddle. His team trailed by four points. These were the types of games that he had vowed earlier in the year to make sure his team finished.
On the inbound play, Westbrook fought to get free and then drove three quarters the length of the court. But as he neared the basket — the Kings fans so far on the edge of their seats they forgot they were supposed to be booing — he kicked the ball out to Dennis Schroder on the perimeter. Schroder’s 3-point shot bounced off the rim, and Westbrook swatted it out toward the perimeter, hoping for the best.
Then the free throw marathon began.
Paul George cut the Kings’ lead to two points on an assist from Westbrook, but Sacramento’s D’Aaron Fox sunk a free throw to put the score at 117-113.
The Thunder got just one more shot off in the game, but Schroder’s shot from beyond the arc missed again.