By Shawn Whelchel

The Sacramento Kings tried to fight through tired legs on their second game of a back-to-back matchup on Wednesday, but ran out of steam as the Houston Rockets earned a 102-89 victory.

Sacramento dug themselves an early hole, as a lack of scoring and easy offense by Houston gave them as large as a 22-point lead in the first half of play. The Kings continued to find their rhythm on offense while pulling to within striking range of the James Harden lead Rockets, but ultimately stalled short of amassing a comeback as a 16-point fourth quarter sealed their fate.

With center Dwight Howard sitting out tonight’s contest with a knee injury, shooting guard James Harden was able to let loose, heaving 31-shots for 26-points on the night to lead his team in scoring. Without their down-low presence, the Rockets lived behind the arc, connecting on 12-of-25 attempts with guard Isaiah Canaan earning 18 of his 24 points from three point range.

On the other side of the court, big man DeMarcus Cousins kept the Kings in the game with 29-points on 9-of-18 shooting while Sacramento was forced to play without starters Rudy Gay and Darren Collison for the second straight game, as they continue to be plagued by injuries.

While the Kings managed to scrap their way to just a one-point deficit in the third quarter, their sloppy play proved too much to overcome, as Houston benefited from 21 Sacramento turnovers on the night, which they converted into 32 points to back their winning effort.

After jumping out to a hot start, the loss drops the now 9-6 Kings to fourth place in the Pacific division, ahead only of the bottom-dwelling Los Angeles Lakers who sit with a 3-12 record on the season. The Kings will look to bounce back on Friday, as they hit the road to take on the San Antonio Spurs