Texas two-step: Kings dance by Rockets to pass Mavericks for fourth in Western Conference
The Kings did a little Texas two-step Wednesday evening, racing past the Houston Rockets to slide by the Dallas Mavericks for fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Domantas Sabonis extended his franchise record with his 18th consecutive double-double, posting 24 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Kings to a 135-115 victory over the Rockets before a crowd of 16,057 at Golden 1 Center.
De’Aaron Fox had 24 points and nine assists for the Kings (22-18), who outscored the Rockets 41-20 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game. Trey Lyles came off the bench to post 20 points and seven rebounds, including 15 points and five boards in the fourth.
The Kings trailed by one early in the fourth quarter, but they outscored the Rockets 35-14 over the last 8:22. Houston went 7 of 21 (.333) from the field in the fourth after shooting 49.3% through the first three quarters.
“I tell you what, our guys stepped up in the fourth quarter on the defensive end of the floor,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “I didn’t think we had a great night offensively. We took care of the ball and we tried to do most of our staples, but I thought we missed a handful of the open shots we normally make, and we still ended up with 135.”
Jalen Green scored 26 points for the Rockets (10-31), who have lost eight in a row and 13 of their last 14. Kenyon Martin Jr. came off the bench to score 21 points. Eric Gordon had 19. Alperen Sengun had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Kings moved percentage points ahead of the Mavericks for fourth in the West with another game against the Rockets coming up Friday, rare air for a franchise that is mired in a 16-year playoff drought. Brown was asked about the significance of being among the top teams in the West as the midway point in the season approaches.
“We just want to win games,” Brown said. “We want to put ourselves in the best possible position to go into the playoffs. I didn’t know we were fourth, but, again, for us, we look at this thing in five-game seasons. I told our guys we were 2-2 before today’s game during this five-game stretch and let’s try to at minimum go 3-2 for every one of these five games. So, tonight was a big ballgame in that regard, too. It’s not about where were sitting in the standings because we’re trying to win every game, and if we do, we’re going to move up.”
The Kings believe they could be even higher in the standings if they hadn’t squandered opportunities to pick up additional wins over the likes of the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards.
“Mike always says he feels like we could be even better,” Fox said. “We’ve had slippage at times and lost games we probably shouldn’t have lost, so, for us, we’re just continuing to try to grow together, trying to continue to get better both offensively and defensively. It’s good that we’re fourth in the standings, but it’s a long season. What game is this? Game 40. One more game and we’re halfway through the season. It’s a marathon. We have a long way to go. “
Brown had to make a change to his starting lineup after Kevin Huerter was ruled out due to a non-COVID-19 illness. Brown elected to start Terence Davis, who had fallen out of the rotation in recent weeks after erupting for 31 points earlier this season in a win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Brown opted for Davis instead of Malik Monk, saying he wanted to give Davis a chance to get into a rhythm with the starters while maintaining continuity with Monk coming off the bench.
“It’s great to start, but I’m not huge with that,” Brown said. “It’s more about the meat of the game, in particular the end of the game, and so to give TD an opportunity with four quote-unquote starters to see how he plays, in my opinion, was the right choice. At the end of the day, having the luxury of having a player like Malik — who could easily start for a lot of teams, including us tonight — come off the bench, (that) keeps some continuity with the second unit. And then if we need him at the end of the game, we can. If TD’s not rolling, that’s a great luxury to have.”
The Kings led by as many as seven and trailed by as many as eight during a lackluster first quarter in which neither team shot better than 40%. Sacramento went up by 12 in the second quarter, but Houston came back to cut the deficit to five at the half. Davis made one 3-pointer in the first quarter and another in the second while Monk provided a spark off the bench, posting 10 points, two rebounds and three assists in 13 minutes despite going 3 of 9 from the field.
Davis finished with six points, six rebounds and two assists. Monk had 11 points but went 3 of 13 from the field.
Sacramento maintained a slim lead until Gordon made a 3-pointer to tie the game midway through the third quarter. The Kings reestablished a seven-point advantage, but the Rockets closed the quarter with a 9-1 run carry a 95-94 lead into the fourth.
The Kings continued to play the same dangerous game early in the fourth. They outscored the Rockets 6-1 to go up 100-96 and then found themselves trailing 101-100 following a basket by Martin and a 3-pointer by Garrison Mathews with 8:44 to play.
That’s when the Kings finally took control. They dug in defensively and scored with ruthless efficiency, making 14 of 22 from the field in the fourth quarter while staging 9-0 and 12-0 runs to take a 122-105 lead on a 3-pointer by Lyles with 3:28 remaining.
At that point, it was almost time for Fox to light the beam with Grammy-award winning rapper 50 Cent, who sat courtside with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
The Kings find themselves in a very tight playoff race as they arrive at the midseason mark, but Lyles said they are more focused on playing good basketball.
“We’re not really looking too deep into that,” Lyles said. “It’s still early in the season. We’re still focused on the long run. We’re not really worried about positioning. We just want to go out there and get better with every game that comes.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 11:06 PM.
