Last night, the Sacramento Kings defeated the Houston Rockets 107-97 behind standout performances from DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Darren Collison and Omri Casspi. They won despite Rajon Rondo sitting out due to his 1-game suspension
The highlight of the game was undoubtedly Rudy Gay jamming on Patrick Beverly. He absolutely posterized the poor man. This was the best part of a very good game from Gay. Gay totaled 17 points on 6-11 shooting, 13 rebounds, and 6(!) steals.
Things are beginning to look up for the Kings. The chemistry is starting to flow, particularly between Rondo, Cousins, Casspi, and Marco Belinelli. They’ve won their last 3 games, and now sit at 10-15, just 1 game out of the 8 seed in the West.
It’s a different story with the Rockets, however. At this point, they just look dejected. They look tired. They look sick of playing below their talent level. Dwight Howard and James Harden seem fed up with each other, and rumors of a Howard trade are swirling. At 12-14, the Rockets currently project to be the 7th seed in the playoffs, and they’ll probably make the playoffs. It’s hard not too when you have James Harden and Dwight Howard in an incredibly top-heavy conference. However, making the playoffs is not the goal for James Harden or Dwight Howard. The made the conference semi-finals last year, and got annihilated by the Warriors. Now, they look tired and unmotivated. They’re going to need to find some motivation if they want to have any success in today’s NBA. Lazy basketball doesn’t win.
