Rockets at Kings

When/where: 9 p.m. Friday; Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.

TV/radio: ATTSW; 790 AM, 93.3 FM (Spanish), 1010 AM (Spanish).

The Rockets’ losing streak is no more.

With Wednesday night’s 128-124 win over the Spurs in San Antonio, the Rockets stopped a three-game skid and started their five-game road trip on a positive note. The same night, the Kings snapped a five-game losing streak — their longest of the season — by beating the Lakers 125-116.

Houston has not won back-to-back games since its seven-game win streak ended Dec. 10 with a loss to Milwaukee.

The Rockets play the Kings twice in Sacramento with a day between games on Friday and Sunday. Rockets coach Stephen Silas said he expects to have every player healthy and available for both games. The Rockets have won the past seven season series against the Kings, and have not lost consecutive games against them since Dec. 15 and Dec. 31, 2013.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH

Clutch shot-making

1

The Rockets surged to a second-half win against the Spurs thanks

to critical shots down the stretch from Kevin Porter Jr. and Eric Gordon. Porter made three shots in 71 seconds as part of his 12 fourthquarter points, while Gordon scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half.

Houston is 6-2 this season in games decided by five points or fewer, with two of those wins occurring within the past week. In addition to Wednesday’s game, Porter drilled a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in the Rockets’ Jan. 5 win over the Wizards.

The Kings are 8-5 in games decided by five points or fewer, and the clutch playmaking extends beyond those games. On Wednesday against the Lakers, Chimezie Metu made a clutch 3-pointer with 46.7 seconds remaining to make it a three-possession game.

As Gordon goes …

2

The Rockets are 7-1 in games where Gordon scores at least 20

points and 2-0 when he scores 30 points or more. They lost all seven games in which he did not play. Before Gordon’s 31-point outburst against the Spurs, in which he missed just one shot (9 of 10), Gordon had failed to score 20 points in his last 12 games.

“He, like I continue to say, plays exactly how we want someone to play as far as getting to the rim and then stretching the floor with 3-point attempts,” Silas said. “Last night, he was making plays as well. His usage was right at the top of our team because he was shooting the ball, getting to the free-throw line and making plays for his teammates.”

Gordon and Christian Wood are the only Rockets players to reach 30 points in two games this season. Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate each have one 30-point performance.

De’Aaron Fox’s impact

3

Fox averaged 25 points and 6.3 assists in three games against the

Rockets last season. The guard is the engine that makes the Kings offense go — and he is on a hot streak lately, averaging 24.1 points and 4.7 assists over his last seven games.

In that span, Fox led Sacramento in scoring four times and scored 30 points in three consecutive games (all losses) Jan. 4-7. What’s more, Fox and his backcourt partner, Tyrese Haliburton, appear to be playing more in sync than they have all season. Haliburton leads Sacramento in assists (7.0), steals (1.7) and blocks (0.7) per game. Winning the paint

4

The Rockets score 45.1 percent of their points in the paint, which

ranks fourth in the NBA. The Kings are only two spots below them at 44.6 percent. Their defenses also are the two biggest culprits in giving up points in the paint, with the Kings dead last at 52.6 points per game and the Rockets allowing 49.7 points per game. The Rockets must commit to drives and box-outs and make the Kings uncomfortable by forcing them to shoot 3s, which the Kings make at only a 34.6 percent clip while averaging 11.7 made 3s per game.

Can the Rockets sustain scoring?

5

The Rockets’ 128 points on 82 field goal attempts Wednesday

marked the first time they scored more than 123 points in a game since scoring 132 in a Dec. 13 win against Atlanta. Houston is 4-2 when scoring 120-plus points this season, but 0-12 when scoring fewer than 100 points.

The effort against the Spurs was helped by a 39-point output in the first quarter, the Rockets’ highest-scoring opening quarter since they scored 43 in a Nov. 27 win against the Hornets.

INJURY/STATUS REPORT

Rockets: No injuries or illnesses.

Kings: Center Damian Jones (health and safety protocols), forward Louis King (G League two-way), guard Jahmi’us Ramsey (G League assignment) and forward Robert Woodard II (health and safety protocols) are out. Center Richaun Holmes (reconditioning) and center Tristan Thompson (non-COVID illness) are questionable.