Paul George didn’t make any excuses for the Thunder losing to the Sacramento Kings Saturday at Chesapeake Energy Arena on the second night of a back-to-back.
George scored 45 points in a season-high 50 minutes Friday night in a double-overtime win over the Utah Jazz but scored just 14 points on 4-of-19 shooting from the field Saturday night against the Kings.
The Thunder trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and were unable to complete the comeback as a potential game-tying layup by Russell Westbrook with 11.5 seconds left was wiped away after he was called for a charge on Willie Cauley-Stein.
As George said afterward, the circumstances were no excuse for the loss.
It was tough. Today was tough but that’s no excuse. Back-to-backs are in this league for a reason, teams play them and we easily could have won it. We were in a position to win tonight.
Westbrook led the Thunder with 41 points for his third straight game with at least 40 points, a first for him this season, while he also added 10 rebounds and four assists.
The Thunder are 5-3 now this season on the second night of a back-to-back and have typically performed well in those situations so the loss may not be alarming for the group.
For George, though, his 14-point performance is a bit rare this season. In what has become an MVP type of year for him, he has only recorded fewer than 14 points once (11 against the Charlotte Hornets).
After playing two games in as many nights, the Thunder have a few days off before facing the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
