Kings Vs Rockets: Rockets rout Kings 128-97 as Sheppard hits seven 3s
In the kings vs rockets matchup on Wednesday night, the Houston Rockets overwhelmed the Sacramento Kings 128-97 in what became the Rockets' most-lopsided victory of the season. The rout featured a career night from Reed Sheppard and a triple-double from Alperen Sengun, and it left Houston with consecutive wins after a recent collapse in New York.
Sheppard, Sengun and Durant carry Houston’s offense
Reed Sheppard made a career-high seven 3-pointers and finished with 28 points, while Alperen Sengun scored 26 points and posted a triple-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Kevin Durant added 21 points on 62 percent shooting. Houston shot 54. 7% from the field, hit 17 of its first 30 shots and led by as many as 36 points in the fourth quarter on the way to the 128-97 final.
Kings Vs Rockets: the rhythm of the game and turning points
Houston built a 77-50 lead by halftime after outscoring Sacramento 44-28 in the second quarter and going 8 for 12 from 3-point range in that period. The Kings had cut into the margin early in the third with a 13-2 run that prompted coach Ime Udoka to call a timeout a few minutes into the quarter, but the Rockets steadied and pulled away again. The Rockets led 33-22 after the first quarter.
Individual stretches: Westbrook and DeRozan in Sacramento’s effort
Russell Westbrook scored 22 points for Sacramento, with 17 of those coming in the first quarter; he was 8 for 14 in that period. The rest of the Kings were 1 for 10 in the first quarter. DeMar DeRozan added 15 points on a night when he moved past Paul Pierce into 20th place on the NBA's career scoring list. The Kings were coming off a win over Memphis that snapped a franchise-record 16-game losing streak.
Injuries, rotation notes and bench contributions
Keegan Murray left the game with a left ankle injury in the first quarter. Amen Thompson was out with an apparent quad injury, which opened minutes for Aaron Holiday; Holiday got some run, shot well and provided another ball handler to keep Houston’s ball movement crisp. Josh Okogie shot 5-of-7 from the field, including three 3-pointers, Jabari Smith scored 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and Jeff Green, nicknamed "Uncle Jeff, " chipped in 5 points. The main rotation rested in the fourth quarter as Houston prepared for the second game of a back-to-back on the road in Orlando.
Numbers, streaks and season perspective
Sengun’s triple-double was his third of the season and the 11th of his career. The Rockets have won two in a row since blowing an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter at New York on Saturday. Houston had lost four of its previous seven home games before this win. The victory stood out as the Rockets’ most-lopsided of the season and left fans with reason for optimism that the team can stop struggling to close out games against lesser opponents.
Late-game notes and stray coverage lines
Coverage of the night included the terse observation: "Turnovers and poor execution cost the Rockets late. " Other editorial lines that appeared alongside game coverage included: "Against hornets, generally. Some are good, they say, " "Rockets biggest bugaboo comes back to bite them and causes them to head into the break with a loss, " and "Rockets take the 1st of the Clips double-dip. "
