Game 26: Houston Rockets At Sacramento Kings Preview

After a horrible 114-108 loss the Houston Rockets put together last night against the Denver Nuggets, they have an opportunity to right the ship by facing the 9-15 Sacramento Kings tonight.

Let’s hope these guys will play some passionate defense but against the Kings, they won’t have to as this could be shootout as the last two meetings have been.

Whichever team shoots the ball better will likely win this game tonight.

We’ll have to see.

So who’s leading the charge for the Kings?

It’s a two-man wrecking crew!

DeMarcus Cousins still holds the reins in points (25.2 PPG), rebounds (10.6 RPG) and blocks (1.30 BPG). Rajon Rondo, of course, is the front-runner in assists (11.0 APG) and steals (1.90 SPG).

Let’s talk about what the Kings do well.

They love the basketball in their hands. The Kings lead the NBA as far as PACE Factor, averaging 101.9 possessions per game, more than any other team.

They take care of the basketball. The Kings are 7th in the league in assist ratio with 17.5 percent of their possessions ending with an assist as a result of Rondo’s superior facilitating skills.

They are extremely good at putting the ball in the hoop effectively. The Kings are 10th in the league in effective field goal percentage, tied with the Washington Wizards at 50.1.

Injuries:

This is a back-to-back game tonight and that always has us concerned about Dwight Howard‘s minutes. He has been cleared to increase his minutes in these types of scenarios, to which he’d been at about 26 to 28 on either game that he’d play. He’ll now get to play over that and it seems as if he’s getting back to normal minutes on B2B’s.

Terrence Jones had to exit last night’s game with an injury to his eye. Yes, another eye laceration — can you believe it? I couldn’t think such a strange injury could happen twice. He did return briefly but had to exit again as blood was getting into eye and he couldn’t see. His availability tonight will be uncertain but he no longer has the role of essential personnel although he’s always needed. With Donatas Motiejunas back in the fold with a vengeance albeit limited minutes, Marcus Thornton sizzling from downtown as well as Clint Capela in the starting lineup, the Rockets can take their time in bringing him along. His status hasn’t been officially announced yet but I highly doubt that he’d be available tonight but likely later in the week.

Sam Dekker had back surgery and is expected to miss about a couple more months.

Rajon Rondo is healthy but as you may know, he has been suspended without pay for one game for the berating of NBA referee Bill Kennedy back Dec. 3 against the Boston Celtics. Not only that but he stared the guy down way longer than he should have and directed heavy, abrasive language toward Kennedy personally attacking his sexuality eventually having to be restrained by his teammates and escorted off the court by Kings security. The Kings have been off for five days — the punishment was doled out Dec. 11 — so their next game happened to be against the Rockets. He will be OUT and likely Darren Collison will get the start.

Sources: Jenny Dial Creech/Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.

Next: Rockets Live: A Personal Experience At Verizon Center

Three Things to Watch:

Dwight vs. Boogie
Whoever is healthy at PF vs. Rudy Gay
D-Mo’s accentuated progression

Prediction:

115-102 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets are on the road take on the Kings at Sleep Train Arena in a back-to-back.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. CST.

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

Go Rockets!

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