Rockets Leap Over Kings, 97-85

April 11, 1998 / 2:53 AM EDT / CBS/AP

When the injury-plagued Houston Rockets go with their preferred starting lineup, they become a difficult team to beat.

That lineup was in place again Friday night when Hakeem Olajuwon had 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the Rockets won their third straight game with a 97-85 victory over the struggling Sacramento Kings.

The Rockets improved to 13-2 when starting Mario Elie, Kevin Willis, Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Matt Maloney.

"Absolutely, I realize how we've played (with that lineup)," said Drexler, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. "It would be nice to keep that lineup together and see how far we can go in the playoffs."

However, an injury may again hinder Houston. Charles Barkley reaggravated a groin injury and left the game with 10:38 in the fourth quarter. His status for Sunday's game in Seattle is unknown.

"I don't know about (Sunday)," said Barkley, who finished with seven points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. "I have to see the doctor. I hurt it a little last night. It really went crazy on me tonight after halftime."

It's another frustrating injury, something Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich has dealt with all season. The team missed Olajuwon for 33 games, Barkley has sat out 10 games and Drexler has missed 12.

"It looks like we're going to lose Charles for a while," Tomjanovich said. "I'm not sure how serious it is. It's been the story of our season. It seems like we get headed in the right direction, then we have setback after setback."

Houston played well in the second half, dominating the third quarter and holding off the Kings in the fourth. It was Sacramento's 15 loss in 16 games.

"The big turnaround in the game was the third quarter when we turned the ball over (seven times) and we didn't make shots," Kings coach Eddie Jordan said. "That was just a bad way to start off the second half."

After the Kings closed to 90-85 on Anthony Johnson's 3-pointer with 1:37 left, Drexler made five free throws in the final 1:21 as the Rockets pulled away.

"It's good to know we are beating teams we're supposed to beat," Olajuwon said. "A team like ours is very dangerous. We have championship players. We are much better than our record."

Corliss Williamson scored 20 points and Johnson had 19 for the Kings, who have lost eight straight games to the Rockets over the past two seasons.

"They built themselves a six- to eight-point lead and we could never really recover from that," Johnson said.

The Kings played without star guard Mitch Richmond, who has missed seven of the last nine games with a sore right knee.

Trailing by a point early in the third period, the Rockets went on a 16-4 run to take control. Drexler scred 10 points during the spurt, which helped Houston take a 70-63 lead into the fourth quarter.

Rookie Tariq Abdul-Wahad scored five points as Sacramento went on a 7-2 run in the final minute of the second quarter.

Abdul-Wahad, starting in place of Richmond, had scored nine of his 10 first-half points in the second period when the Kings outscored the Rockets 27-22. His three-point play with 25 seconds left sent the Kings into halftime with a 47-46 lead. He didn't score in the second half.

Notes: Since the All-Star break, Barkley has come off the bench in 26 of 27 games. ... Starting center Otis Thorpe and Michael Stewart were each 0 for 6 from the field. ... The Rockets committed 11 first-half turnovers and finished with 16.

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