Despite a valiant effort, the Houston Rockets fall to the Sacramento Kings 132-127

After the OKC Thunder blew out Cleveland Cavaliers in the first of tonight’s TNT doubleheader, the Houston Rockets would look to keep pace by beating the Sacramento Kings in their building. The Kings had won seven of their last eight games and the Rockets were winners of their last six road games and five games overall.

With no Fred VanVleet in the lineup, citing “personal reasons,” as one might expect, the offense got off to a slow start. But with the ball going through Amen Thompson and Jalen Green (10 points in the first quarter) and the usual strong effort on defense, they were able to keep the score close, down by just one after the first quarter 26-25 .

With Jalen and Sengun on the bench to start the second quarter, the offense struggled, helping the Kings get out in transition and get open looks. When the Rockets don’t shoot well, they have to win the battle of the boards, but they didn’t midway through the second quarter.

Ultimately at halftime, the Rockets were outscored 24-21 and shot just 44.2 percent from the field, while the Kings were allowed to shoot 54.3 percent, including 42.1 from three. Jalen Green played just 13 minutes in the first half, the majority of which came in the first quarter. All that said, the Rockets were fortunate to only be down by nine, 61-52.

The Rockets opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run, forcing Sacramento to take a quick timeout. The run was fueled by the Rockets getting stops and getting out in transition, something they did very little of in the first half. However, the Kings answered with a run of their own as the Rockets began to look tired as they were being outworked by the Kings to the boards, losing possessions and starting to commit unforced turnovers.

Midway through the third, the Rockets deficit had ballooned to 16 points. The Rockets defense kept them within striking distance, but the Kings were able to keep them at arm’s length entering the final quarter with a five point lead over the Rockets 90-85.

The Rockets scored six straight points to begin the fourth quarter… Let me correct myself. AmenThompson scored six straight points to begin the fourth quarter, giving the Rockets the lead for the first time since the beginning of the first quarter.

The Rockets were able to keep the game close with Sengun dominating in the paint and Amen Thompson pushing the pace. An 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter would be followed by a 10-0 run by the Rockets, but poor turnovers by the Rockets, combined with some big shots by the Kings and some questionable foul calls, even after being called, held Rockets just out of reach of the lead despite their gritty effort.

It would come down to 8.9 seconds on the clock with the Rockets trailing by three, and despite a nice look at a game-tying three by Jalen Green, the Rockets fell short of a magical finish and lost the game by a score of 132 -127 .

Jalen continued his impressive run of late scoring 18 of his 20 points in the second half and shot 10-of-20 from the field including 4-of-8 from three.

Sengun scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Amen Thompson scored 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block.

The Rockets shot 52.7 percent from the field, scored 66 points in the paint. In the end, it was untimely turnovers, seven missed free throws and the fact that Sacramento shot a little better from the three-point line that got the Rockets in.

DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Kings with 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Obviously, the Rockets are beyond moral victories, but given the circumstances of being the second game of a back-to-back on the road against a team hot since their interim coach Doug Christie took over… The Rockets put up a valiant effort.

It was good to see Tari Eason back on the floor, and as usual, he was very impactful down the stretch.

The Rockets will be back in action on Saturday in Portland to take on the fledgling Trail Blazers. The game tips off at 9:00 PM CST. Watch on Space City Home Network or listen on Sports Talk 790.