THE Kings of Sacramento were unable to recapture the magic of last season when they ended a long playoff drought by leading the NBA’s top-ranked offense to the third seed in the Western Conference.
It’s been an eventful campaign for the Kings, who needed a 7-0 final score to hold off the San Antonio Spurs – who were without rookie Victor Wembanyama – 131-129 at home on Thursday. Sacramento will look for a third straight victory when it hosts the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
The Kings, who led by 20 points in the first half, trailed by eight in the fourth quarter before putting together a stunning rally capped by a steal and transition dunk by Domantas Sabonis with 7.7 seconds left.
Sacramento needed all of Sabonis’ heroics — he finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists — plus another monster fourth-quarter effort from De’Aaron Fox, who had 17 of his 33 points in the final frame.
Sacramento was unable to replicate its offensive power from last season, slipping to 12th in the offensive rating. Defensively, the Kings are ranked 22nd, and their struggles against the Wembanyama-less Spurs were the latest example of a team not really firing on all cylinders.
“We can’t accept the way we played,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “Now we get the victory, but we cannot accept the way we played and think that everything will be fine in the future.
“But at the end of the day, the way we defended, the way we turned the ball over and responded to those turnovers, that can’t fly, and we have to continue to learn and grow so we don’t continue to put ourselves in danger. in a position like ours.”
The Rockets put together a stunning display of transition offense in the second half for a 123-107 road victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Houston outscored Portland 68-44 after the break after trailing by double digits in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 37 fast break points after forcing 17 turnovers, including 11 in the second half.
“We knew what we had to do going into the third quarter,” Rockets guard Jalen Green said. “And it was really just the defense making stops. We were going back and forth with them and we’re a much better team than that. We came out in the third quarter, defense was the main priority, and I think we ‘Have done. “.
The Rockets held Portland to 34.1 percent shooting after intermission. The ability to turn defense into offense shifted the momentum in favor of Houston, which fed off two spectacular dunks from Green – who scored 27 points – to methodically pull away.
The Rockets have had similar moments this season, with their athleticism fueling easy transition baskets. And even though Houston struggled to produce consistently in this manner, for at least one night, everything clicked and the results were particularly favorable.
“We have to do this every night,” Green said. “Just keep fighting, stay together.”
–Field level media
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