Three Takeaways From Kings Blowout Loss to Thunder

With the return of Chet Holmgren tonight, the Thunder had their jumbo lineup back with him and Isaiah Hartenstein sharing the court, and they took advantage of Sabonis being out early and often.

Hartenstein especially destroyed the Kings with a career night, finishing with a game-high 33 points and 19 rebounds on a hyper-efficient 14-of-17 (82.4%) from the field. And it wasn't just on offense and the boards, but on defense as well. He also had three blocks and a steal as the Kings struggled to get anything going inside.

Holmgren wasn't quite as impactful as Hartenstein, but he also finished in double digits with 10 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, and a block. The Kings lost the points in the paint battle 60-34 as the Thunder controlled the paint on both sides all night. Everyone knew it would be an issue coming into the game, and the script played out just as many Kings fans feared it would.

Quiet Night for LaVine

It's hard to ask for a better start to the season from Zach LaVine, but he couldn't get much of anything going tonight. He finished with a very quiet nine points, two rebounds, and two assists on just five field goal attempts.

LaVine got the full Thunder treatment tonight as he was at the top of their scouting report. Especially with Sabonis out, teams can put all of their focus on LaVine to keep him from getting going. Pair that with the possibility that LaVine is still feeling the ill-effects of his lower back soreness, and it made for a very quiet night for the talented scoring guard.

Defense Still a Concern

The Thunder aren't the best barometer for gauging a defense, as they won the championship last season for a very good reason, but it still seems clear that the Kings are struggling to string together stops on defense.

They have stretches that look great on that end of the floor, but we haven't seen a game yet where they play solid defensively for 48 minutes. That was never going to be the case against the Thunder tonight, but it's a trend to keep an eye on going forward.

The Kings will get another chance to get back in the win column on Sunday against the Minnesota Timberwolves in what will be another tough matchup early in the season.