Game 21: Rockets Vs. Kings: A Battle Of The Bigs

The Houston Rockets pulled out their most impressive win of the season thus far.

It was an all-out, gritty effort against the Dallas Mavericks we saw things that they haven’t been doing all season.

They were moving without the ball, they were playing hard-nosed defense and then we witnessed the best part — James Harden sinking a game-winner.

As that ball bounced madly around the rim, I had a feeling that it was going to go in with the Beard accompanying his successful score with his “stirring the pot” motion that we’ve all come to love.

I just hope they can keep that intensity through tonight as well as they take on the 7-13 Sacramento Kings.

The Rockets are fully capable of beating this team and it was the Kings that allowed the Rockets to avert their 0-3 start at the beginning of the season when they last met Nov. 6 in a 116-110 win.

This should still be a fun match up to watch as Demarcus Cousins is back in the lineup and wasn’t available for that game because of injury.

We’ll have to see.

So who’s leading the charge for the Kings?

It’s a two-man show.

Cousins leads the team in scoring (27.2 PPG), rebounding (10.7 RPG) and blocks (1.40 BPG). Rajon Rondo leads in assists (10.6 APG) as well as steals (1.70 SPG).

Let’s talk about what the Kings do well.

They love to have the basketball in their hands. The Kings are 2nd in PACE factor, averaging 102.2 possessions per game.

They’re good at moving the ball around. The Kings are 7th in assist ratio with 17.1 percent of their possessions ending with an assist with Rondo being a heavy contributing factor.

Injuries:

Donatas Motiejunas will be making a return to the court soon, there’s no timetable that has been set but he’s doing more-and-more everyday. J.B. Bickerstaff said that he’s doing one-on-one drills and he is “salivating” for the day when he can get back into the lineup. He has been cleared to practice and took part in Tuesday’s activities.

Sam Dekker has had back surgery and is expected to miss about three months.

Willie Cauley-Stein had to exit Thursday’s match up against the Boston Celtics with what has now been diagnosed as a dislocated finger. Cauley-Stein, the sixth-pick overall of this year’s draft, will be out for the next four to six weeks.

Omri Casspi missed Thursday’s game with a case of gastroenteritis, his status has been upgraded to probable and George Karl is thinking about inserting him into the starting lineup.

Sources: Jenny Dial Creech/Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee/Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento.

Next: James Harden To Blame For The Rockets Struggles

Three Things to Watch:

Dwight Howard vs. Cousins
Trevor Ariza vs. Rudy Gay
Patrick Beverley vs. Rondo

Prediction:

105-101 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets are back at home to take on the Kings at Toyota Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on ROOT Sports Southwest and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME) and La Ranchera 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets!

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