Thunder looking to rebound in Sacramento

The Kings are a Western-Conference worst 12-37 entering Saturday night's 9 p.m. game and have lost four straight and 12 of their past 16.

But the Thunder showed Tuesday against Memphis that no win is a gimme.

Against a Grizzlies team playing without Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo, two of their top four scorers, the Thunder lost a 105-101 overtime decision inside Oklahoma City Arena. Memphis made its way to town on the second night of a back-to-back. The Thunder was working with two days rest.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Thunder reserve guard Eric Maynor. “We just made bonehead mistakes.”

The Thunder committed a season-high 23 turnovers, 12 of them in the second half. The Grizzlies turned those miscues into 31 points, many of them being easy buckets as Memphis scored 27 points in transition.

“Nobody wants to turn the ball over but it happens,” said Maynor, one of six Thunder players to finish with at least two turnovers Tuesday.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks responded in the ensuing days of practice by drilling his players on the game's fundamentals. To correct the uncharacteristically sloppy offense, Brooks spent time the past few days working on better spacing, better passing and better screens.

On Tuesday, the Thunder shot just 41 percent against a Grizzlies team that yields 45 percent. That's one reason Brooks is stressing the importance of not looking past Saturday night's game against the Kings, even though their defense allows 47.1 percent.