Kings collapse in 3rd quarter, blown out by Houston Rockets for 4th straight loss
A strong first half wasn’t enough for the Sacramento Kings to overcome one of the best teams in the Western Conference.
A 1-point halftime lead turned into a 26-point loss at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night, as the Houston Rockets were led by three 20-point scorers while the Kings were doomed by another lackluster third quarter, falling 121-95 and dropping to 5-17 on the season.
Alperen Sengun had 28, Kevin Durant scored 24 and Amen Thompson added 20 for the Rockets. The Kings were paced by a career-high 25 points from rookie center Maxime Raynaud. Malik Monk also scored 25, with 14 in the fourth quarter.
The game got away from Sacramento in the third quarter when the Rockets went on a 22-5 run over a stretch of 5:18. Houston outscored the Kings 36-19 in the frame and took a 16-point lead into the fourth.
The Rockets, who came in as the NBA’s best rebounding team, finished with a 62-32 advantage over the Kings and outscored them 70-43 in the second half.
It was the fourth straight loss for Sacramento, which has lost 12 of its last 14 including an eight-game slide from Nov. 7 to Nov. 20.
Zach LaVine scored just 2 points on 1-of-5 shooting and played just 5:13 in the second half. He and DeMar DeRozan both went scoreless after halftime.
The Rockets had imposing big man Steven Adams back in the lineup after missing the game Monday against Utah.
Westbrook climbs all-time scoring list
Westbrook came into the game needing 7 points to pass Tim Duncan for 17th on the all-time scoring list (26,496 points). The 18-year veteran hit a cutting finger roll with 7:03 left in the second quarter to give him 8 points after making a pair of 3s earlier in the half.
“For Russ, the names that keeping popping up are absolutely incredible,” Christie, who played against Duncan in his career, said pregame. “It just speaks to a kid from Los Angeles who believes in himself more than anybody, and total respect for how he approaches the game with that type of confidence and belief. Because in our league, it’s not for the faint of heart. You have to believe in yourself first and foremost.
“And normally when you come from those types of environments, you always hear ‘you won’t do it. You can’t do it.’ And all of a sudden you find yourself on the precipice of passing Tim Duncan.”
Halftime report
The Kings took a 52-51 lead into halftime thanks to a 23-foot baseline jumper from DeRozan with 4 seconds left in the second quarter.
But the story of the first half was Raynaud, who paced Sacramento with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting coming off the bench. DeRozan had 12 points while Westbrook had 8 points and five assists.
For Houston, Amen Thompson scored 12 points with 6 assists and Kevin Durant added 11 points and 5 assists. The Rockets scored just 2 points off Sacramento’s nine first-half turnovers while the Kings scored 11 off Houston’s 10.
Up next
The Kings will continue their three-game road trip with two more days off before taking on the Miami Heat on Saturday and then the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
Their next contest at the Golden 1 Center will be Dec. 11 against the Denver Nuggets, which was added to the schedule amid the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup in-season tournament.
