Thunder Preview: Road Trip Continues In Sacramento

Following a loss to the Timberwolves, the Thunder will continue its six-game road trip on Sunday night in Sacramento when it takes on DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings. 

Related: OKC's Second Half Struggles Cost Thunder In Loss To T'Wolves

Here are a few things to know about the matchup: 

Thunder must bounce back

Oklahoma City started its six-game road trip on Friday, and things definitely didn’t go as planned in Minnesota as the Timberwolves exploded in the second half to beat the Thunder, 96-86.

Russell Westbrook missed 12 of his final 13 shots as OKC went 3-for-20 from behind the arc and shot 38.8 percent from the field.

It was a brutal loss in many ways. Not only are the Thunder statistically a better team than Minnesota, but the Timberwolves may be the easiest opponent OKC will face this month. The loss in Minneapolis means the Thunder desperately need to win Sunday night’s game against the Kings in order to build momentum throughout the rest of the road trip.

Kings are a solid team

While they’re definitely not the Warriors, the Kings are improved this season and are only a half game back from the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings.

Off the court issues aside, DeMarcus Cousins is having one heck of a year. Cousins is averaging 28 points and 10 rebounds per game, while Rudy Gay adds 18.5 points and 6.3 rebounds to make up a pretty good one-two scoring punch.

The Thunder has already lost in Sacramento earlier this season as Cousins tallied 36 points, so OKC should be motivated to go into Golden 1 Center and come out with a win.

Another Westbrook triple-double?

Russell Westbrook surpassed his triple-double total from last year with his 19th of the season in the loss to Minnesota. Westbrook now has a triple-double in three of the last four games, and would have a four-game streak if it weren’t for coming up one rebound short in the win over Chicago.

Westbrook came up one assist short from a triple-double last time the Thunder was in Sacramento, so we’ll see if he has it in him to pull it off on Sunday night.