Royal Flush: Thunder Pummel Kings Behind Westbrook's Triple-Double

With many people pegging Monday's matchup with the Kings as a must-win game, the Thunder did that and more inside of Sleep Train Arena as OKC pulled out a 131-116 win to kick off their four-game road trip.

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Russell Westbrook led the way for the Thunder by tallying a speedy triple-double with 7:47 left in the third quarter, and then capped it off to finish with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists. It's the ninth triple-double of the season for the point guard, and No. 28 for his career. 

In what was an extremely physical regular season game, the Thunder showcased the potential of their bench depth while proving they can bounce back from a gut-punch loss like the one they suffered in overtime to the Warriors on Saturday night.

Early in the first quarter, the Kings were for the most part pushing the Thunder around and OKC appeared to be sleepwalking through the game's first four minutes, but a small scuffle ensued between Kevin Durant and both Demarcus Cousins, which served as somewhat of a wakeup call for the Thunder.

OKC trailed 12-6 at the time of the shoving match, but fueled that anger to reel off a 23-to-12 run to close the quarter and then took an eight-point lead into halftime.

Sacramento kept things close in the third quarter, and brought the score to 85-81 after Willie Cauley-Stein put back an offensive rebound. Once again, the Thunder were ready with a response and finished the quarter on a 9-to-3 run.

Things really busted open for the Thunder in the final frame after Dion Waiters broke away on a fast break and was awarded a clear-path foul. Waiters knocked down both free throws, and then with the ball remaining in OKC's possession, Kyle Singler swished a corner 3-pointer to put the Thunder up 14 points.

After a Kings’ miss on the other end, OKC quickly ran in transition and Steven Adams flushed home a dunk to put the Thunder up 106-90 as the Thunder pulled away for good and never looked back.

Durant led the Thunder in scoring with 27 points while Enes Kanter was a perfect 11-for-11 from the field to total 23 points. Kanter wasn’t the only Thunder player thriving off the bench, as Waiters added 22 points and Kyle Singler was in double digits with 11 of his own.

Cousins led the Kings in scoring with 35 points while grabbing 12 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo had a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists.

The Thunder will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on the Clippers inside of the Staples Center.