After blowout, an even tougher test
Before the Rockets’ flop in Oklahoma City on Saturday, their most lopsided loss of the season came three weeks earlier at Sacramento.
If one did not get their attention, the other should.
They expect to be better equipped for their latest pursuit of a bounce-back performance. Jae’Sean Tate and Eric Gordon sat out Saturday’s debacle, in which the Rockets trailed by as many as 45 points and allowed a season-high 153.
But in their two games in Sacramento last month, they lost by 20 and 25 points. And unlike Saturday, when the Rockets were playing on a second consecutive night against a team that had been home and resting, the Kings on Monday will be on a back-to-back after Sunday’s game in New Orleans.
Going into Sunday’s game, the Kings were third in the Western Conference, 2½ games behind the Memphis Grizzlies, with a pair of games at Toyota Center this week (the second comes Wednesday) to wrap up a seven-game road trip.
The Rockets have lost six of their past seven meetings, including four of five home games, against the Kings.
1. Try, try again
The Rockets have not done well when playing the same opponent in consecutive games.
They topped the Jazz at home before losing the next game at Utah. They lost consecutive games to the Los Angeles Clippers. They lost a next-game rematch with the Nuggets by 20. They followed a 20-point loss to the Kings with a loss by 25 at Sacramento. Their blowout loss to the Thunder on Saturday came three days after they had topped Oklahoma City at Toyota Center (though with a game against the Raptors squeezed in between).
Though the Thunder had considerably more time to prepare than the Rockets, who were on a back-to-back, and appeared far more motivated, there is a more even playing field in the latest rematch with the Kings.
2. Point, counterpoint
The Rockets have not been the same since their first game against the Kings. Literally.
Point guard Kevin Porter Jr. left that game with what the Rockets have called a bruised left foot after Kings forward Malik Monk ran into Jae’Sean Tate, sending Tate into his teammate. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant-1 later in the week. Porter has missed the Rockets’ 12 games since and is still out with an injury that he said is to his right big toe.
Daishen Nix started last week’s four games with Jalen Green out for the first three and Gordon out on Saturday. Gordon should be back in his fill-in point guard role. The Rockets are 0-5 in games with their likely starting lineup of K.J. Martin, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Green and Gordon.
The Kings have their own uncertainty. De’Aaron Fox, a candidate to be added to the All-Star roster with Stephen Curry out, has missed the past two games, He and his wife, Recee Caldwell, are expecting their first child, but the Kings have said only that he is out for personal reasons. It is unclear if he will return to play in his hometown.
3. On his way back
Green returned from his calf injury Saturday and struggled in the first half but seemed to shake off some rust in the second half.
Green made one of eight shots in the first half. He made three of seven attempts in the second half, with one of the misses a futile heave to beat the shot clock. He did not play in the fourth quarter, finishing with 12 points and four assists ain his 22 minutes.
4. The defense rested
After giving up an average of 137 points in their first two games against the Kings, the Rockets did not expend much defensive energy Saturday while heading to their rematch.
They allowed 153 points at Oklahoma City on Saturday, the seventh most they have allowed in franchise history.
5. The other rematch
The Rockets might remember the games in Sacramento as bad losses. That does not make them unique.
They were also memorable for the altercation late in the third quarter of the second game when Rockets guard Garrison Mathews fouled Monk and he and Monk squared off, with Mathews slapping the ball in an exchange that triggered an altercation.
Monk, Mathews and the Rockets’ Tari Eason were given technical fouls and ejected. Mathews was fined $35,000 for initiating the incident. Monk was fined $25,000 for taunting and continuing the altercation. Eason was fined $30,000 for escalating the situation and inadvertently bumping an official.