By Robert Steward

HOUSTON–

On a night that saw the Sacramento Kings’ All-Star Center DeMarcus Cousins have a monster game, it unfortunately went to waste. Cousins had a triple-double, scoring 24 points, while grabbing 21 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists, along with a career-high 6 blocked shots. But it was overshadowed by the Houston Rockets’ All-Star James Harden, who scored a career-high 51 points to lead the Rockets past the Kings, 115-111, the third loss in a row for Sacramento.

Sacramento was playing without Forward Rudy Gay, who was not in the lineup due to a concussion that he suffered two nights ago in a loss to Memphis. It’s unknown as to when Gay will return. He must pass the league-mandated concussion protocol first before being allowed to play again. The Kings started out slow, missing 6 of their first 7 shots and turning it over 5 times in the early going to help Houston jump out to a 13-3 lead with 6:57 left in the first quarter before the Kings called a timeout. While Sacramento eventually was able to trim the lead down to 1, at 22-21, a 13-4 run by the Rockets found them leading, 35-25, as the quarter came to an end. Harden was locked in, hitting 5 of 7 from the floor, including all 3 of his attempts from downtown, to finish the quarter with 16 points. Ray McCallum was also off to a nice start for the Kings, hitting all 4 of his shots to lead Sacramento with 9 points in the quarter. The Rockets shot 52% from the floor, including 6 of 12 beyond the arc, while the Kings shot 46% from the floor.

The Rockets turned up the heat as the 2nd quarter began, going on an 11-2 run behind the three-point shooting of Trevor Ariza, who made of 3 of 4 from long-range during the run, forcing the Kings to call a timeout with 9:18 left, facing a 46-27 deficit. But just when it looked like Sacramento was going to get blown out, they fought back, cutting the Houston lead to 48-41 with a chance to cut it to 5 but Omri Casspi missed an uncontested layup, which was then followed by a Harden 3-pointer at the other end to push the Rockets’ lead back to 10. Once again, the Kings rallied, going on a 12-3 run of their own to once again trim the lead down to 1, at 54-53, with 1:32 left. Houston lead 58-55 at the half. Despite 10 turnovers for Sacramento, they outrebounded the Rockets, 33-24, en route to 40 points in the paint.  Cousins was the one doing the most damage for the Kings, with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocks in the first half. McCallum, after a hot start in the first, did not take a single shot in the 2nd quarter. Harden was well on his way, leading the Rockets with 24 points, including 5 for 5 on 3’s, while Ariza had 14.

The Kings started off the third quarter making 3 of their first 4 shots and took their first lead since 10:45 in the first quarter, going up 61-60 at the 9:51 mark. Both teams see-sawed back and forth and the game was still tied at 72 with 6:20 left in the quarter when Harden, who had 27 up to that point, scored 14 of the Rockets’ next 21 points as the lead grew to as many as 15. Houston closed the third period with a 97-86 lead, torching the Kings for 39 in the quarter, lead by Harden’s 17 points.

Sacramento could have rolled over after the third quarter but, to their credit, they kept coming after Houston, eventually trimming the deficit to 2, at 104-102, with 5:37 left. But following a timeout by the Rockets, Harden got it going again. Up to that point in the 4th, Harden was scoreless. However, he scored the next 10 points for Houston to make the score 114-107, Rockets, with 1:45 to go. The Kings made one last attempt to comeback. Down by 4 with 10 seconds left, Casspi missed a 3-pointer and Harden grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He then missed both of his free throw attempts, the only 2 he missed all night, but the Kings failed to capitalize and didn’t score as time expired.

In addition to Harden’s 51, which included 8 of 9 from downtown, Ariza ended up with 22 and Terrence Jones contributed 16 for Houston, who finished the night 18 of 40 from 3-point range. Houston shot 46% for the game. Sacramento had 7 players in double figures, led by Cousins’ 24. Casspi had 18 while Jason Thompson came off the bench to score 16, to go with 10 rebounds in 21 minutes. McCallum, who only took 2 more shots for the rest of the game after hitting his first 4 in the first quarter, and Ben McLemore both had 14. Carl Landry and Derrick Williams both chipped in with 10 apiece. The Kings finished at 50% for the game from the floor but shot poorly from the free throw line, hitting only 8 of 16. They did, however, outrebound Houston, 57-42.

The Kings return home on Friday to host New Orleans at 7pm.