SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Oklahoma City Thunder received all the elements they usually have in a victory: Russell Westbrook put up another triple-double and Enes Kanter provided superlative play off the bench.

But it was the contribution of Victor Oladipo and two rookies down the stretch and their success holding off a furious Sacramento Kings rally in a 122-118 victory at the Golden 1 Center that had Thunder coach Billy Donovan excited.

"I give those guys a lot of credit," he said. "That was a great learning experience for a lot of those guys in these situations, and I thought we got contributions from all of them."

Westbrook scored 36 points in his 20th triple-double of the season, and Kanter came off the bench to score 29 for the Thunder. But the rookies contributed mightily, too, with Alex Abrines hitting two key free throws late, Domantas Sabonis providing a couple of key late rebounds. Oladipo also made two key free throws to hold off Sacramento's final furious 14-4 charge.

"Just a great effort all-around," Donovan said.

Westbrook also collected 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the 57th triple-double of his career. He is two behind Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird for fifth on the NBA's all-time list.

Kanter contributed a season-best 29 points and added 12 rebounds, continuing a four-game stretch of superb play that has seen him average 19.8 points and 11.0 rebounds. He made 10 of 18 shots.

"That's just what he does," Westbrook said. "I wouldn't call it a hot streak. That's just what he does. He's the best guy off the bench in the league. I really believe that."

The Thunder (25-17) won for the fourth time in five contests and moved a season-high eight games above .500 for the second time this season. They are 16-4 when Westbrook has a triple-double.

Oklahoma City did it without center Steven Adams for much of the second half. Adams, who has started all 42 of the Thunder contests, took a blow to the head late in the first half and was evaluated for a concussion.

Andre Roberson also sat out the stretch after injuring a toe.

DeMarcus Cousins scored 31 points and pulled 11 rebounds to lead the Kings, but Sacramento (16-24) lost for the fifth time in six games. The Kings close a season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday against Indiana.

"I feel like (expletive) right now," Cousins said. "Hopefully, we can get that last win and take some momentum out on the road with us."

Sacramento once again was plagued by a slow start. The Kings had 15 first-half turnovers and fell behind 59-42 before halftime. They've trailed by double digits in all five of their losses on the homestand, and they've been down in the first half in four of those setbacks.

A technical foul by Matt Barnes also hurt. The Kings trailed only 96-90 after Ty Lawson made two free throws with 7:11 to go. But Westbrook canned a 3-pointer, and Barnes didn't heed a ref's warning to stop barking after turnover and earned a technical foul.

"I don't think it killed our momentum," Kings coach Dave Joerger said. "I think we had a lot of momentum. ... At the end of the say, we talked about it at halftime, I can yell about referees and this and that, but we had 15 turnovers at halftime. It doesn't have anything to do with anything else. It was a tough call. ... We don't need those for sure."

Westbrook made the free throw, and on the ensuing position, drew two defenders as he drove the lane and dropped the ball off to Kanter for a layup that pushed the lead back to 12.

Rudy Gay added 22 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento, and his 3-pointer cut the Thunder lead to 116-113 with 22 seconds left. Cousins then made two free throws for 118-116, but Oladipo's two free throws, and Westbrook's steal and layup sealed it for Oklahoma City.

Darren Collison had 21 points but only two assists for the Kings.

NOTES: Thunder G Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double every 2.16 games during the first half of the season. He needed to average about two every six games during the second half to break Wilt Chamberlain's 49-year-old mark of 31. ... Veteran F DeMarcus Cousins played his 454th career game with Sacramento, tying him with current Kings GM Vlade Divac and Lionel Simmons for seventh on the team's all-time list. Cousins is on pace to break the Sacramento mark of 541 held by F Jason Thompson midway through next season, if he does sign a five-year contract extension as expected. ... The Thunder played the first of back-to-back contests, their eighth instance of consecutive games this season. They've swept those games two times and been swept four times with one split. ... Kings F Anthony Tolliver hadn't started four consecutive contests since an 11-game starting run with the Detroit Pistons late the 2014-15 season. ... Oklahoma City G Domantas Sabonis was 0-for-4 from 3-point range and is in a 1-for-23 shooting slump from distance.