English
Español
When the Houston Rockets took a 77-50 lead into the half against the Sacramento kings on Wednesday night, anyone who thought to themselves, “It’s over.” hasn’t watched Rockets basketball this season. Undoubtedly, you yourself may have has some reservations about switching over to your favorite Netflix show and calling it a night. Those reservations were briefly justified when the Kings started the second half on a 13-2 run, prompting Ime Udoka to call a time out, just few minutes into the quarter.
Udoka has seen what we have all seen before. A tale of two halves. To his credit, he pressed the right buttons and kept with the right combination of players that kept the offense from suddenly becoming stagnant. Alperen Sengun (26-point triple-double), Kevin Durant (21 points on 62 percent shooting), and Reed Sheppard (28 points on 43 percent from the three-point line) really powered the Rockets offensively, along with a much welcomed showing from Josh Okogie who shot an efficient 5-of-7 from the field, of which three of those shots were from behind the arc.
With Amen Thompson out with an apparent quad injury, Aaron Holiday got some run and not only shot well but gave the Rockets another ball handler that was able to help keep the ball movement crisp. Jabari Smith had 12 points on 6-of-12 from the field and even “Uncle Jeff” Green got some run in this game chipping in 5 points. It was a complete team victory over a bad Sacramento Kings team. However, given some of the issues the Rockets have had in these types of games, including against these very Kings, this win is not something to shake a stick at. In fact, Rockets fans hope it’s a sign that this team is on track to no longer struggle to win these types of games against lesser opponents.
If the Rockets are going to achieve what we all hope they are going to achieve, then these types of games need to be automatic. It’s especially helpful that the main rotation was able to rest in the fourth quarter headed into the second game of a back-to-back, this time on the road in Orlando. Getting a home win is also a welcome sight as the Rockets had lost four of the last 7 home games. In the end, a win is a win, and the Rockets need to start stacking as many of those as possible, so tonight Rockets fans can go home happy.