HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets received a scare less than two minutes into their Tuesday night game with the Sacramento Kings. Star James Harden landed awkwardly after bumping knees with a Kings defender while throwing a lob pass to Clint Capela. It was clear Harden wasn’t himself, and after he made basket on the other end, the shooting guard laid down along the baseline.
Harden didn’t leave the game, proving once again how tough he is, having missed just one game the past three seasons with the Rockets — that was due to a suspension.
But with Harden less than 100 percent, he deferred to his teammates, and things worked for the Rockets in a 105-83 victory.
Harden finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists before leaving with five minutes left in the game and no further health issues.
“I was really in pain, I couldn’t really bend it so I had to just figure out what was going on,” Harden said. “… I got a knee brace to continue the game.”
There was no need for Harden to be heroic because the Rockets had strong performances from quite a few people. Ryan Anderson, who made three 3-pointers in a 25-11 third quarter, basically sealed this victory. Anderson finished with a game-high 25 points as he made six total 3-pointers.
Eric Gordon seemed like his old self after battling injuries to his big toe and back for nearly two weeks. He had his usual lift on his jump shot and seemed to have a burst on drives. Gordon had 17 points on 15 shots, giving another reason why the Rockets, despite their defensive struggles in January, will be just fine.
Nene, who Onbahis played just 13 first-half minutes, scored six points off Harden passes and ended the night with 11 points. Nene, who is the only Rocket subjected to the Rest Designation on the second night of back-to-backs, blocked two of DeMarcus Cousins’ shots, drove the lane for buckets and had some life to his game.
“I’ll never play him when we don’t need him,” Mike D’Antoni said. “There’ll be days that we give him off because we feel that the matchup is OK for us. But if there’s a somebody like a Cousins, there’s somebody he’s playing, so we look at the calendar and make sure that Nene is ready to go on those days.”
Check out the team site for more game coverage
Check out the team site for more game coverage
Rest, something the Kings clearly needed having played their eighth game in 12 days, is what the Rockets also sought.
No NBA team has played more road games (29) than the Rockets, who are coming off a four-game trip. On Tuesday morning, Harden said it was good to return home. The Rockets’ win over the Kings was the first of four games at home, giving them a chance to pad their lead as the No. 3 seed in the West.
D’Antoni preaches stacking victories as a way to control your playoff destiny. To that end, defense will help the Rockets. On Tuesday night, they held the Kings to 27.6 percent shooting from 3 and 34.9 from the field. The 83 points were the fewest points allowed this season by Houston.
And yes, the Rockets didn’t shoot much better: 44.7 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from 3. But they outrebounded their opponent by 15 and held the Kings without any fastbreak points.
“I just think it’s real important to getting back to the basics, it’s always key,” Trevor Ariza said. “Sometimes when you don’t get a chance to practice, you kinda fall into the mode of losing your principles. Being back home, getting a chance to go over things, being on our home court we’re familiar with that, we’re a little more comfortable and were able to get back to what we like to do as a team.”
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