The Sacramento Kings lost this game by 26, but gained two players on the night. One of them became a King during the first quarter in this game and that was Harrison Barnes. That was the only piece of good news during the game because Sacramento showed nothing today. They got killed on second chance points, turned the ball over 22 times and struggled shooting. Sacramento drops to 28-26 on the season, but two new players are on their way.

You almost forget there was a game going on with the news that broke in the first quarter. Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph were traded for Harrison Barnes of the Dallas Mavericks. While Jackson was removed from the bench, Barnes was still playing in his game when the trade was announced. Back to the game, the Rockets led 32-28 after one. James Harden already had 12 points on 11 shots while Austin Rivers chipped in seven off the bench. The Kings were led by Nemanja Bjelica’s nine points on 4-4 shooting with five rebounds. Buddy Hield was 1-6 from the floor and 1-5 from three but the majority of those shots went in-and-out.

Things escalated quickly in the second quarter. Houston completely took over and outscored the Kings 44-17 to extend their lead at the half to 76-45. Harden hit 25 points and was 6-7 from deep while Eric Gordon was 4-8 from three. Nothing you can about that, topped with the fact the Sacramento gave the ball away 11 times. Hield was only 2-10 from the floor, Bogdan Bogdanovic shot 3-8, Marvin Bagley was 1-6 (seven rebounds) and Willie Cauley-Stein was 0-3. Bjelica was 5-5 from the floor but just couldn’t adequately catch the ball, resulting in four turnovers of his own.

The Kings outscored the Rockets 29-28, but the second half surge by the Rockets was not going away. Rockets led 104-74 despite an 11-0 run by the Kings in the early parts of the quarter. Harden had 34 points and shot 8-12 from three. Gerald Green had 17 off the bench. Sacramento had 17 turnovers and continued struggling from the field. Hield had 20 points and 10 rebounds despite shooting 8-17 overall and 3-10 from three. He also turned the ball over six times. Bogdanovic had 13 points on 6-15 shooting and 1-6 from three.

Sacramento outscored the Rockets 27-23 but it didn’t matter. The Kings bench played the whole quarter while the Rockets had their starters out there for a while, then eventually sat them. Frank Mason and Skal Labissiere each played the whole quarter. Mason scored 13 points on 4-6 shooting along with two rebounds, one assist and a slap of Harden’s beard. Kings fall to 28-26.

Notable Players

Buddy Hield scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds despite six turnovers. Some of his threes in the first quarter just went in-and-out.

Nemanja Bjelica shot 6-7 today for 15 points along with six rebounds, two assists and a block. He turned the ball over four times mainly because he had trouble hanging onto the ball.

Marvin Bagley III was a rough 4-12 from the field but delivered his fourth straight double-double off the bench. He went for 10 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

Harry Giles scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds to go with one assist and one steal.

Willie Money Watch

Willie was also off in this game. He was 1-5 from the field and 1-4 from the charity stripe, finishing with three points, six rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes.

Notable Stats

Sacramento shot 39-91 from the floor (43%) and 11-33 from three (33%). They were 12-20 as a team from the free throw line (60%)

Sacramento won the rebound battle 54-42, the assist battle 21-17 and fast break points 25-6.

Houston scored 32 points off Sacramento’s turnovers.

Houston was also 20-51 from three.

Next Game

The Kings host the Miami Heat this Friday at 7:00 PM PST. Miami will be coming off a 118-108 win against the Portland Trail Blazers.