Thunder take down Kings for 60th victory

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 of his game-high 32 points in a lead-creating first half, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe helped squash a Sacramento rally with contributions to a fourth-quarter run and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their 60th game Tuesday night, 121-105 over the host Kings.

Chet Holmgren posted an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Thunder (60-12), who reached 60 wins in the regular season for the fifth time in franchise history, which dates back to an earlier life as the Seattle SuperSonics.

The loss was a fourth straight for the Kings (35-37), who fell into a tie with the Phoenix Suns for ninth place in the Western Conference, both just a half-game up on the 11th-place Dallas Mavericks.

Down 64-42 at the break after Gilgeous-Alexander's big first half and by as many as 25 early in the third period, the Kings, getting four 3-pointers from Keegan Murray, rallied within eight by quarter's end.

But Caruso opened the fourth period with a three-point play and an interior hoop, and after Joe dropped in his second 3-pointer of the quarter, the Thunder had lengthened the lead to 105-89 with just 6:59 remaining.

The Kings, who fell to 2-4 on a seven-game homestand, got no closer than 13 after that as the Thunder coasted to a seventh straight win.

Gilgeous-Alexander was one of six Oklahoma City players with two or more 3-pointers, connecting on 3-for-6. Joe went 4-for-6 from deep in a 14-point performance, while Kenrich Williams was 3-for-4, Lu Dort 3-for-6, Caruso 2-for-3 and Jaylin Williams 2-for-4.

As a team, the Thunder shot 19-for-32 from beyond the arc. They were outscored 69-57 from deep, but it took the Kings 16 additional attempts to convert four more.

Caruso finished with 15 points, Dort 13 and Williams 11 for the visitors, whose Isaiah Hartenstein collected 10 rebounds to go with four points. Caruso and Williams shared team assist honors with six apiece.

Murray shot 9-for-13 on 3-pointers to account for all but one of his team-high 28 points.

Domantas Sabonis was the game's leading rebounder with 12 and top assist man with eight to go with eight points, while Zach LaVine had 19 points, Keon Ellis 12, Jake LaRavia 11 and DeMar DeRozan 10.

--Field Level Media