Rudy Gay Leads Sacramento To 106-91 Victory Over Houston
By: Morgan Ragan
The Kings held the highest scoring team in the league to under 100 points Sunday defeating the Houston Rockets 106-91.
Rudy Gay had 26 points, five boards and four assists in his first home game with the Kings since the trade one week ago.
"Rudy is so skilled, he's so talented. He makes it look easy out there offensively," head coach Michael Malone said postgame. "Now there are three pieces that we have throughout the game."
The other two pieces Malone is referring to are Isaiah Thomas and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins had 21 points, 10 boards and five assists and Thomas added 19 points and eight assists for Sacramento.
"It makes the game so much easier," Cousins said postgame. "It's not such a heavy load on me and Isaiah every night."
Quincy Acy made his debut for the Kings. In his 12 minutes he scored four points and grabbed three boards while adding defensive pressure to Houston's big man Dwight Howard.
In Sacramento's consecutive losses prior to Sunday, opponents were 25 of 47 from 3-point range. The Rockets only shot 25.9 percent (7-27) from behind the arc.
The Kings are 7-15 and begin a four-game road trip in Charlotte against the 10-14 Bobcats on Tuesday.
Analysis:
Houston was without guard Jeremy Lin, who sat out with back spasms and big man Omer Asik who was out with a right bruised thigh. Rockets head coach Kevin McHale missed another game following the death of his mother, and assistant Kelvin Sampson took over the reigns in McHale's absence.
The Kings have another athletic body on the court adding 27-year-old Rudy Gay to their roster. As chemistry builds, Sacramento needs to play with a fast pace and run the ball with their young players like Ben Mclemore and Derrick Williams.
Isaiah Thomas will be leading the league in minutes at this rate. With Greivis Vasquez traded to Toronto four games ago and Jimmer Fredette as his back up, Thomas played over 40 minutes in each of the last two games.
You can hear Morgan with Deuce & J-Ross from 12-3 p.m. on KHTK. Follow her on Twitter: @momoragan
