On April 10, Beijing time, the Kings challenged the Thunder away, and in the last game, the Kings successfully defeated the Nets, counterattacked and overtook the Lakers, and regained the eighth place in the West. Previously, their encounter with the Celtics was a thrilling one, with the Kings leading Fox to take the lead in the final quarter, but in the end they failed to pull off a miracle, but the team showed impressive tenacity and resilience, even when the score fell behind by a large margin. Looking back at last season, the young Kings made the playoffs again after 17 years, and this season their core lineup has remained stable, and Fox and Jr. have grown more mature and steady. Although the absence of Monk and Huerter has damaged their strength a lot, they will undoubtedly go all out in order to impact the top six in the West and avoid the play-offs.
The Thunder have also suffered injury problems, with Alexander and Jaewe missing a number of games and the team suffering back-to-back losses, but they are still firmly in third place in the West, behind the Timberwolves and Nuggets. This season, Alexander and the Thunder have both been impressive. Alexander averaged 30.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game, ranking third on the latest MVP list, behind Jokic and Doncic. His consistent play and superb mid-range shooting skills continue to refresh the expectations of fans. At the team level, the Thunder have a group of young and firepower players, including Alexander, Jayway, Holmgren, Dort, and Keady, among others. However, before a hard-fought win over the Hornets in their last game, they suffered three straight defeats and the gap between them and the top two in the West was gradually widening. This is partly related to the absence of the team's core Alexander, with the good news being that both Alexander and Jaewe will be back for today's game.
At the start of the game, the Kings showed strong offensive momentum. Fox teamed up with Ellis to hit a three-pointer to give the team a head start in the game. Although the Thunder scored inside and outside, they were always stubborn and tied to the Kings. Entering the second quarter, the Thunder's shooting percentage declined, while the Kings were on fire, launching consecutive offensive climaxes and gradually extending their lead. At halftime, the Kings led by 19 points, 64-45.
At the start of the second half, the Thunder launched a strong counterattack. Although Coach Brown repeatedly asked for a timeout to adjust his tactics, the effect was not significant. The Thunder quickly closed the gap with a 24-7 scoring surge. In the final quarter of the game, the Thunder blossomed inside and outside and successfully overtook the score. After that, the two sides engaged in a fierce battle, and the score alternated upwards. At the crucial moments, Alexander made consecutive kills and scored from free throws, while Fox responded quickly with a precise three-pointer. In the end, after Alexander scored six points with free throws, the Thunder established a lead, and the Kings struggled to catch up, but they couldn't turn the game around. In the end, the Thunder achieved a 20-point comeback victory over the Kings 112-105 and successfully passed the home court.
Before the game, they were 3 wins ahead of the Clippers and Mavericks behind them, 1 win behind the second Nuggets, and the third in the West is the safest position for the Thunder, even if it is against the Suns in the final first round, it is much stronger than against the Lakers, after all, the Thunder's size and style of play are not afraid of the Suns, but in the face of the Lakers, the Thunder really have no chance of winning, and the thick eyebrows are a problem that they have never been able to solve, and James also has an obvious advantage in the face of Jay。 In this game, the Thunder could have been used to let Alexander and Jay run in the lineup, strategically release water to send the King a victory, let the King enter the top eight, and drive the Lakers to the ninth and tenth places in the West, so for the Thunder, it is simply killing two birds with one stone! However, the Thunder is still too young, they won 16 points in the third quarter, won another 10 points in the final quarter, and finally completed a 20-point reversal and won a victory.
For the Kings who lack Monk and Huerter, instead of waiting for others to make mistakes, it is better to keep the shot firmly in their own hands, as long as they win the Thunder away, and then they will usher in three home courts, facing the Pelicans, Suns, and Trail Blazers respectively, if they go all out to beat the Pelicans and the Trail Blazers, even if they lose to the Suns and get a 2-1 record, then the Kings' overall record will come to 48-34, which is enough to guarantee the seventh place in the West, so as to at least ensure that they have home court advantage in the play-offs, and have two chances to fight! But unfortunately, with a 20-point lead, they suddenly became unable to play, and finally lost the game, so that the Kings and Lakers have a record of 45 wins and 34 losses, due to the advantage of the head-to-head record, the Kings are still in eighth place in the West, and after returning to the home court, the pressure on the Kings will be great, and they can only expect to win all three games. And the game between the Lakers and the Warriors is especially crucial!