OKC Thunder gameday preview: Revenge week continues with the Kings on tap

Fox is the real deal – but is he the next Westbrook?

Joerger’s comments may be nothing more than a head coach back peddling from an error made (re: the Doncic comments), and it remains to be seen how good Bagley will be. But, the Westbrook – Fox comparison does bear some weight.

Outside of John Wall, few in the league are faster than these two from basket to basket. Fox clearly spent his summer growing his game and learning how he could affect the game more. Examples of his ascent are obvious via his decision making, change of pace, playmaking and clutch time scoring.

Surprisingly Fox is listed as being 6’3″ but looks so much taller in game. Westbrook is also listed as being 6’3″, so I’ll be watching closely tonight the veracity of the listed height.

While I’m hesitant to put Fox on the same parallel as Westbrook I do believe his arc is destined for stardom. Those who recall my 2017 mock draft are well aware of the accolades I reaped upon him stating five years in he could very well end up being the star of that class.  Postgame interactions with his peers who seek him out for an exchange is a clear sign he’s earned their respect.

With Westbrook putting a concerted effort into defending he’ll have his hands full tonight as controlling Fox is one of the keys to controlling the Kings.

All areas of defense will need to be on high alert:

The Thunder will need to employ their fifth ranked perimeter defense against these Kings and pepper in solid transition defense to slow the speedy Kings.

The Warriors and Spurs boast the best perimeter efficiency but the team surprising ranked just behind these sharp shooting squads is the Sacramento Kings.

They shoot the 3-ball at a 38.6 percent efficiency. Unlike the Spurs though the Kings get up almost 30 (29.4) attempts per game.

Given this 3-point prowess, the Thunder will need to be dialed in at closing out while simultaneously being aware of Willie Cauley Stein and Sacramento’s big men are because they also score the fourth most points in the paint (52.9). Putting this dynamic in perspective the Thunder who aren’t a perimeter powerhouse win most of their matches because they dominate the paint and yet they rank behind the Kings in this area in sixth (52.7).

Don’t get baited into the track meet:

For as much as the OKC Thunder excel offensively at a faster pace, they need to be careful in this matchup. Sacramento will be more than happy to get into an up and down game since they too prefer a fast uptempo game. The Kings play with the second fastest pace in the league.

In their recent game against the Golden State Warriors the fast pace the two teams spent the majority of the game just running back and forth and it took a concerted effort from the champs to pull out the victory.

With two losses already on the books against Sacramento the Thunder would be wise to only utilize pace off turnovers and fast breaks.