» KINGS GIVE UP BIG LEAD TO OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Kings have found a variety of ways to win in recent weeks while thrusting themselves back into the playoff race. This time they almost did it without De’Aaron Fox.

Danilo Gallinari scored 24 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder rally from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat the Kings, 112-108, on Thursday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points for the Thunder (37-22), which is fifth in the Western Conference.

Harrison Barnes scored 21 points to lead the Kings (24-34), who had won three in a row and nine of 13. Harry Giles III had a season-high 19 points and eight rebounds.

Nemanja Bjelica added 18 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento, which will conclude a four-game road trip in Memphis on Friday. Buddy Hield came off the bench to score 15 points. Alex Len had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Kings announced before the game that Fox would sit out with lower abdominal tightness. The injury is correlated to the right groin tightness Fox experienced in Tuesday’s win over the Golden State Warriors. He is considered day-to-day and will continue to be monitored by the team’s medical staff.

The Kings went 9-9 in 18 games without Fox earlier this season. He missed 17 games with a grade3 ankle sprain in November and December and later missed a game due to back spasms.

Kings coach Luke Walton started Cory Joseph in place of Fox on Thursday. Walton said the Kings could take comfort knowing they’ve won games without Fox before.

“We’ve been dealing with this a lot this season, so it’s the same idea — next-man-up mentality,” Walton said before the game. “We’ll throw Cory into the starting lineup tonight and we’ll have to adjust a little bit how we play, but all the principles stay the same on what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The Kings led by two at the end of the first quarter and carried a 61-50 lead into the locker room at the halftime break. They extended their lead to 17 early in the second half and went up 78-59 on a 3pointer by Bjelica with 7:03 to play in the third period, but the Thunder closed the quarter with an 18-2 run to cut the deficit to one going into the fourth.

Oklahoma City took an 83-82 lead on a basket by GilgeiousAlexander early in the fourth quarter, but the Kings reclaimed the lead on a 3-pointer by Hield. The teams continued to exchange leads until Gallinari made a 3pointer with 4:49 remaining to spark a 7-0 run for the Thunder.