Game Preview: Rockets At Kings
DeMarcus Cousins' stellar performance against the Dwight Howard-less Houston Rockets a little over two weeks ago wasn't enough to lead Sacramento to victory, and the Kings have continued to struggle without him.
Houston has been playing pretty well without its big man, though.
Both stars will be out again Thursday night as the visiting Rockets look to deal Sacramento its seventh defeat in nine games.
Cousins had 29 points and 17 rebounds in a 102-89 loss to Houston (16-5) on Nov. 26 that ended a three-game winning streak for the Kings (11-11). That was the last time Cousins played after he came down with viral meningitis, which will keep him out for at least another week.
Sacramento dropped to 2-5 without Cousins following Tuesday's 98-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
"I think he is the best rebounder in the game, so we definitely miss him," guard Darren Collison said of Cousins, who is tied for the NBA lead in rebounding at 12.6 per game. "But we have other guys that can play pretty much the same way. So there's no excuses on our part. We have guys who can step up and fill that void."
Collison finished with a season-high 26 points, but the Kings went 5 for 17 from the field in the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 12. They're just 2-4 during a 14-game stretch in which they won't play outside the state of California until traveling to Brooklyn to begin a four-game trip Dec. 29.
"This loss really, really stings," coach Michael Malone said. "It's a bad loss. For us to have the lead and play as well as we did at times, and then just give it all back and not have the poise to handle the adversity down the stretch, it's a tough loss."
The Rockets, meanwhile, have gone 7-3 since Howard suffered a strained right knee. They had won four straight and seven of their previous eight before falling to streaking Golden State 105-93 on Wednesday.
Howard hopes to return Saturday against Denver.
James Harden was questionable against the Warriors, but he battled through back spasms to score a game-high 34 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
"They're a good team and they broke us down a little bit," Harden said. "We got too spread out on defense."
Houston led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, but Golden State scored 16 of the game's final 20 points after Harden's 3-pointer tied it at 89 with 4:45 left. It marked the second-most points allowed in a non-overtime contest by the Rockets, who are fourth in the league in scoring defense (94.6 points per game).
"They attacked us off the dribble and we didn't handle that very well," coach Kevin McHale said. "They got some open stuff, and when they went small, it bothered us."
Harden has averaged 32.8 points in his last four games against the Kings, who have lost the last three, but went just 10 of 31 from the field in the first meeting. Isaiah Canaan had a career-high 24 points last month against Sacramento, though he's missed the last five with a sprained left ankle.
Donatas Motiejunas also had a career high with 21, and he's averaging 15.6 points in his last seven games.
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