Blastoff: Rookies Davion Mitchell and Jalen Green take flight in Kings’ win over Rockets
Houston is a city that has been synonymous with human spaceflight for more than half a century. Rookie guards Davion Mitchell and Jalen Green were both cleared for takeoff Wednesday night.
Mitchell and Green took turns on the launching pad with some highlight-reel dunks, but it was Mitchell who emerged with the win after leading the Kings to a 121-118 victory over the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.
Mitchell has put his whole game on display in recent weeks, including the impressive leaping ability he demonstrated against the Rockets.
“In high school, I probably had more bounce, and then in college I kind of lost it a little bit, but then I got it back,” Mitchell said.
Damian Jones had a career-high 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots for the Kings (28-49), who will remain in Houston to play the Rockets again Friday. Jones surpassed his previous career high of 23 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 19, 2021.
Mitchell finished with 24 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Trey Lyles had a big game as well, posting 24 points and seven rebounds.
Green scored 32 points for the Rockets (20-57). Kevin Porter Jr. recorded his first career triple-double with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.
Mitchell posted his fifth consecutive game with at least 20 points and seven assists. He has started the past five games in place of De’Aaron Fox, averaging 24.0 points and 8.4 assists.
“I think he’s getting better every game,” interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry said. “I think he’s playing with more confidence than he’s ever played with and the guys have more confidence in him.”
Mitchell, who came out of Baylor as the No. 9 pick in the 2021 NBA draft, delivered a monster dunk midway through the first quarter. He turned the corner on a screen by Jones and made an explosive move into the paint, leaping from the dotted line before throwing down a right-handed jam over Usman Garuba and Kenyon Martin Jr.
“D. Jones set a good screen (and Garuba) came up high,” Mitchell said. “I’m a two-foot jumper, so I knew if I got middle, I was going to try to dunk it.”
Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, matched Mitchell moments later with a soaring alley-oop on a lob from Christopher after the Kings committed a turnover.
“You can see what happens when you turn it over or they’re out on the break,” Gentry said. “There’s going to be somebody on SportsCenter that night.”
Houston staged a 10-0 run to take a 39-28 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Sacramento scored 44 points in the second period to take a 72-66 lead into the halftime break. The Kings went up by 14 with 4:31 to play in the third quarter. The Rockets stormed back once more to take a 106-105 lead on a basket by Porter early in the fourth.
The teams traded leads over the last nine minutes, but the Kings prevailed after Donte DiVincenzo made a big 3-pointer with 1:55 to play and Jones scored on a putback with 1:18 remaining.
Play-in race
The Kings jumped ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for 12th in the Western Conference, moving within 3 ½ games of the Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in spot.
The Lakers were off Wednesday, but they regained a half-game lead over the Spurs when San Antonio suffered a 112-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Blazers fell behind the Kings with a 117-107 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, who strengthened their hold on the ninth spot in the West.
With only five games remaining, the Kings will likely have to win out to put pressure on the Lakers and Spurs. The Kings will close out the season against the Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns.
The Pelicans (33-43) only need one more win to put the Kings out of reach. They have six games remaining against the Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Blazers, Grizzlies and Warriors.
The Lakers (31-44) have seven games remaining against the Utah Jazz, Pelicans, Denver Nuggets (2), Suns, Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Spurs (31-45) have six games left against the Blazers (2), Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Warriors and Dallas Mavericks.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 8:42 PM.
