Isaiah Hartenstein and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went over 30 points together for the first time, Ajay Mitchell put up his second career double-double and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder thrashed the Sacramento Kings 132-101 in each team’s NBA Cup opener on Friday night.
Hartenstein complemented a career-best 33 points with a game-high 19 rebounds and Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 30 points, helping the Thunder successfully bounce back from their only loss of the season Wednesday night in Portland.
Longtime Thunder standout Russell Westbrook had 24 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Kings, who lost to the defending champions for the second time this season.
After Sacramento ran off 21 of the first quarter’s last 29 points to turn an 11-point deficit into a 32-30 advantage, Oklahoma City exploded for 40 second-quarter points to seize command for good. Hartenstein had the Thunder’s first 10 points of the run.
The Thunder went into the halftime break with a 70-56 lead and the Kings got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Hartenstein’s 33 points were nine more than he had ever scored in an NBA game (March 16, 2025, at Milwaukee), while his 19 rebounds were one shy of a career-high, set twice previously. He hit 14 of his 17 shots on Friday.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30-point night was his ninth of the season. He made 12 of his 20 shots on a night when the Thunder connected on 53.8% overall (49 of 91).
Mitchell chipped in with 18 points and a career-high 10 assists. His only previous double-double had been of the points/rebounds variety (16/12) last December against Washington.
Cason Wallace aided the cause with 15 points, Joe with 14 and Holmgren with 10 for the Thunder, who were beaten in the NBA Cup finals by the Milwaukee Bucks last season.
DeMar DeRozan backed Westbrook with 18 points for the Kings, who shot just 41.3% (38 of 92). Drew Eubanks added 16 points and Malik Monk 15 in the defeat, while Maxime Raynaud came off the Sacramento bench to snatch a team-high 10 rebounds.
–Field Level Media
