Harden, Rockets eliminate Kings from NBA playoff race but team’s sights are on future
Someday, Sacramento.
Not today, not tomorrow and not next week, but someday the Kings will win a game like this to secure a postseason bid instead of bowing out of the playoff race.
James Harden posted the fifth 50-point triple-double of his career to lead the Houston Rockets to a 119-108 victory against Sacramento on Saturday at the Toyota Center, mathematically eliminating the Kings from playoff contention.
The Kings wildly exceeded expectations to stay in the playoff race until the end of March, but elimination day was a cold realization that they are at least a year away from achieving a goal the players set for themselves.
“We haven’t accomplished nothing yet,” Kings guard Buddy Hield said. “We didn’t make the playoffs, so we’re like the other 16 teams who didn’t make the playoffs.”
Harden turned in a virtuoso performance, finishing with 50 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets (49-28), who are fighting for the third seed in the Western Conference. Clint Capela was a menace inside, putting up 24 points and 15 rebounds.
Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to post 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Kings (37-39), who will conclude a five-game trip Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs. The Kings will have to win four of their last six games to finish .500 for the first time since 2005-06, the last year they made the playoffs.
“We have to keep playing,” said Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox, who had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. “There are games to be played and we’re not going to lay down.”
Bogdanovic shot 32.5 percent from 3-point range in January and 26.9 percent in February, but he has rediscovered his stroke in recent weeks, shooting 57.6 percent from beyond the arc over the past eight games. He made 5 of 7 from 3-point range against the Rockets.
“He’s a stud,” Kings coach Dave Joerger said. “He’s got the heart of a champion. He’s won everywhere he’s ever been and he has a lot of personal pride.”
Hield scored 21 points and made three 3-pointers. He now has 581 career 3-point goals and needs 19 more over the last six games to beak Damian Lillard’s record of 599 over his first three NBA seasons.
Rookie forward Marvin Bagley III had 20 points and 12 rebounds in place of Nemanja Bjelica, who was held out due to a stomach illness. Rookie center Harry Giles III missed his fifth consecutive game with a left thigh contusion.
Bagley became the first player to post a double-double in his first three career starts since the NBA started listing starters in box scores in 1970-71.
The Kings trailed by 10 in the first period before storming back to go up 51-41 in the second. The Rockets staged an 18-2 run after Harden reentered the game with 6:52 to play in the first half, but the Kings battled back once more to cut the deficit to three at the break.
“They’re really good,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They’ve got some young kids than can go. Fox, Bagley, Hield, Bogdanovic – I didn’t think they were ever going to miss.”
The Kings carried a two-point lead into the fourth quarter and were tied with 7:42 to play, but Harden scored 10 of the game’s next 12 points to help the Rockets take control.
“They made a run, which we knew they were going to (do),” Harden said. “I just tried to be aggressive, whether it’s making an assist or getting to the basket or shooting my shot.”
Rockets point guard Chris Paul said the Kings have made a big impression on the league this season, even if they came up short in their quest to end the NBA’s longest playoff drought.
“That team right there is good,” he said. “They’re better than their record is. They were in the playoffs all season long until (after the) All-Star break.”
Someday the Kings will win games like this. Someday they will achieve their goal of returning to the playoffs for the first time in many years, just not this year.
“I liked the way our guys fought,” Joerger said. “... We’ve been close, but as we continue to grow, that’s where we have to grow and catch some of these teams on some nights. I thought we played our tails off tonight, but we just didn’t get it done.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2019 at 8:04 PM.
