Two streaky teams hope to head in new direction when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.
Oklahoma City will be seeking to end a three-game slide, while Sacramento hopes to halt a five-game skid when the Thunder wraps up a four-game trip as the Kings continue a seven-game homestand.
The losing streak is Oklahoma City’s second of the season. They had a two-gamer on their only other multi-city venture of the early season, losing at Dallas and Houston before heading home on a positive note following a win at Cleveland.
That trip came immediately after a four-game winning streak, and the current one did as well. Only this time, the Thunder have lost three straight on the road — two at Portland and one in Los Angeles against the Clippers — heading into their final stop.
If there was a positive for the Thunder in the loss in Los Angeles, it was the sight of Nikola Topic entering the game midway through the first quarter. The 21-year-old has dealt with a torn ACL, testicular cancer and back surgery since being the 12th overall pick of the 2024 draft.
He made his season debut Friday, having sat out the entire 2024-25 season and then getting into just 10 games last year.
“More than anything, I’m just happy to see him be able to play basketball — the game he loves,” superstar teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gushed to reporters after the 113-112 defeat. “It’s tough to go from such a talented young player to not being able to play at all for a couple of years. Can’t imagine. Just happy to have him out there.”
Topic played over 15 minutes, during which he collected four rebounds, three assists and two steals. He went scoreless, missing four shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Kings, meanwhile, didn’t give their reserves much of a chance in Friday’s 120-107 home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. All five starters were pressed into at least 35 minutes of action, with De’Andre Hunter going 42 and Keegan Murray 40.
Amid early speculation that Doug Christie could be the first NBA coach fired this season, Murray admitted he felt sorry for the Sacramento fans having to endure the franchise’s longest season-opening home losing streak — seven games — since moving west.
“The fans deserve a lot better than this,” Murray insisted to the media following a 16-point effort. “We have to win games at home. We have one of the best fan bases in the world. We have to show up for them.”
Beating the Thunder, even on a three-game losing streak, would seem like a tall task for the Kings, whose 1-11 overall record included an 0-6 start and is tied for the worst 12-game mark in franchise history.
Oklahoma City has swept the last two season series from the Kings, winning by 31 points in the Thunder’s only visit last year and by a total of 37 points in a pair of contests in Sacramento the season before.
The Thunder has beaten Sacramento eight times in a row dating back to December 2023.
Topic has never played against the Kings.
–Field Level Media
