The Sacramento Kings delivered an impressive upset on Sunday night. The Kings beat the Houston Rockets 125-124 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. The Kings beat the Rockets in overtime as a 10.5 point underdog.
This was the second embarrassing loss by the Rockets this week. On Thursday, the Rockets were leading the New Orleans Pelicans by 25 points in the second half, only to lose 133-128.
Five Kings reached double digits in points. Power forward DeMar DeRozan of Compton, California had 27 points, forward Keegan Murray of Cedar Rapids, Iowa had 26 points, point guard Dennis Schroder of Braunschweig, Germany had 24 points, triple-double all-time leader Russell Westbrook of Long Beach, California had 21 points, and rookie center Maxime Raynaud of Paris, France had 12 points. Raynaud, Westbrook, and Schroder had double doubles. Raynaud had 14 rebounds, Westbrook had 13 rebounds and Schroder had 10 assists.
It was a strong second half for Sacramento. They outscored the Rockets 55-44. Meanwhile, in overtime, the Kings had a game-winning three point shot from Schroder, who made a 27 footer with three seconds left in the game. In the Rockets’s final possession, Kevin Durant had a 22 foot jump shot attempt, but missed.
Do not be surprised if the Kings consider trading several of their veterans in the foreseeable future if they continue to struggle on the court. The Kings are simply not gelling as a unit, and as a result they are at seven wins and 22 losses. Sacramento is one of two NBA franchises filled with veterans in the West that are not putting together wins. The other are the Los Angeles Clippers, who are at seven wins and 21 losses.
