The OKC Thunder look to start the final stretch of the season with a favorable matchup against the rebuilding Kings in Sacramento.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the OKC Thunder have a golden opportunity to start on the right foot. They just have to come out with a sense of urgency against one of the NBA’s worst teams, something we didn’t see in the first half of the season. Each team is well-rested – hopefully Oklahoma City benefited as much as anyone.
As mentioned in our breakdown and predictions for the week’s games, the Sacramento Kings won the first matchup back in November. It was a poor shooting performance for the Thunder, one that was corrected with a win in their second meeting.
The Kings are in rebuilding mode – we see that with volatile lineup configurations that rotate grizzled veterans and raw young players. The Thunder will need to be prepared for anything.
It’s been a while since Carmelo Anthony hasn’t been part of All-Star weekend and he said he completely unplugged from it: pic.twitter.com/AMQmtnXqJl
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) February 21, 2018
End of the All-Star break
Carmelo Anthony got more rest than he is used to over All-Star weekend, with only Russell Westbrook and Paul George seeing action. A couple of young Kings may have established some momentum coming off strong All-Star weekend outings. More on that in a bit as we move on to OKC’s keys to winning tonight.