Trey Lyles sparks big fourth-quarter surge in Sacramento Kings’ win over Houston Rockets
It looked like it was going to be one of those nights for the Kings in Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets. They entered the fourth quarter down a point to the 10-30 Rockets while playing sloppy defense that allowed Houston to hang around.
The Kings, after all, have lost a handful of games recently to teams below .500 at the Golden 1 Center, and there was a feeling in the building a turnaround was needed to avoid a similar result after earlier losses to the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, Atlanta Hawks and undermanned Los Angeles Lakers.
Then the fourth quarter happened. The result was a 41-20 drubbing over the final 12 minutes that gave the Kings their 22nd victory with a 135-115 win that overshadowed the preceding 36 minutes.
A catalyst for that quick turnaround was reserve forward Trey Lyles, who tied his career high for points in a quarter with 15 in the fourth. He had a season-high 20 points with three 3-pointers, six rebounds and two blocks. He finished plus-18 in 10:13 in the frame to help Sacramento avoid what would have been arguably their most embarrassing loss of the year. The Rockets have the worst record in the Western Conference while the Kings jumped up to fourth in the standings.
“I think, for me, it was just mentally going in there and trying to change the game with my energy,” Lyles said, wearing the oversized “DPOG” chain during his post-game news conference. “We were pretty lackadaisical in the third quarter, I think, especially at the end, offensively and defensively. And then I think in the fourth quarter we ramped it up. It showed and we broke it open.”
It marked the third straight game Lyles scored in double digits after logging 11 points and five rebounds in the loss to the Lakers and 14 points and five rebounds in Monday’s win over the Orlando Magic. Wednesday marked the first time he was awarded the defensive player of the game chain. He said it was because of his fourth-quarter rebounding and blocked shots.
Lyles has been one of the Kings’ most dependable players off the bench throughout the season. And his ability to play forward and center, at times, has given head coach Mike Brown a spark.
The previous three games before his current mini-stretch didn’t go so well. He was minus-10, minus-12 and minus-7 at Memphis, Utah and home against Atlanta, respectively, which led to getting some extra time at the team’s practice facility multiple times before Saturday’s game against L.A.
“That helped my confidence,” Lyles said. “And being able to see a couple going in the games helps out a lot. ... Bringing the energy, trying to be a difference maker offensively and defensively.”
Lyles also had a sting earlier in the year in which Brown was unhappy with his rebounding. So Brown had a conversation with Lyles that has apparently been paying off. Lyles is averaging 6.1 rebounds in 17 minutes over his last eight games.
“Trey is one of our best offensive rebounders,” Brown said. “At least, when he’s in the crash zone, that’s what we call the rebounding zone, he’s the one that’s consistently going all the time, and he’s been getting some key ones for us throughout the course of the year.
“I remember telling him, ‘Hey, you do a great job in the crash zone when it comes to offensive rebounding. Now I need you to take that same energy and apply it to the defensive side of the floor because you can be a great rebounder.’ ... So it was just more so me seeing him offensive rebound and telling him to make sure he’s applying that same aggressiveness, that same energy and same effort when it comes to coming up with that defensive rebound.”
Lyles’ performance comes a game after big man Chimezie Metu was re-inserted into the rotation to back up Domantas Sabonis, who had 25 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists on Wednesday. Metu scored six points with two rebounds, but he got called for four fouls in just over eight minutes.
Malik Monk had another inefficient game off the bench, scoring 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting while Davion Mitchell went scoreless on the night.
De’Aaron Fox (24 points and nine assists) helped get Lyles going in the fourth quarter. He finished with six assists in the frame with three coming on Lyles’ baskets. Fox found Lyles for a 3 in the right corner with 3:28 remaining that pushed the lead to 122-105, essentially putting the game on ice.
“I was just trying to see what his defender would do, if he would step up towards me, if he would start inching out,” said Fox who lit the beam with 50 Cent after the game. “He didn’t move. So it’s really just trying to get him the ball where he can just catch it and shoot it. That’s really been an emphasis for us at practice.”
The Kings acquired Lyles in a midseason trade last year with the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks that sent Marvin Bagley to Detroit and also brought back guard Donte DiVincenzo. Lyles is in the final season of a two-year, $5.1 million contract, and is slated for unrestricted free agency this summer.
Sacramento will play Houston again on Friday at Golden 1 Center.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 1:11 AM.
