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Finishing 2008-09 as the worst team in the Western Conference, the Sacramento Kings were hoping to win the draft lottery and start rebuilding from scratch. Unfortunately, their prayers were unheard as they dropped all the way to the fourth place on lottery night. In the first game for Kings’ head coach Paul Westphal, Sacramento will head to Oklahoma to face Kevin Durant and company on Thursday at midnight GMT.

Unlike the Kings, Oklahoma appears to be done with rebuilding and is hoping for their patience to pay off in 2009-10. Although it remains to be seen whether the young Thunder have matured enough to stay in the playoff race, they are certainly overdue to post a decent record. Having a solid core consisting of franchise centerpiece Kevin Durant, point guard Russell Westbrook and forward Jeff Green, Oklahoma’s front office is confident that the franchise heading into the right direction.

Sacramento on the other hand just came off one of the worst seasons in franchise history and has a long road of rebuilding through the lottery draft ahead of them. Considering that the Kings lack any depth, fourth overall pick Tyreke Evans is bound to see a lot of playing time in his first NBA season. While Francisco Garcia, Andres Nocioni and Kevin Martin are solid contributors, the rest of the Kings’ team appears to be mediocre at best. Therefore, the team around Kevin Martin will have a tough time to come away with a win in Oklahoma on opening night. To make things even worse, Francisco Garcia will most likely be a game-time decision as he has not fully recovered from an injury suffered at the FIBA Americas tournament.

You can watch all games of the Sacramento Kings and Oklahoma City Thunder right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.