In a frantically paced game that wasn’t completely resolved until the 4th quarter, the Houston Rockets defeated a young Sacramento Kings team 119-108, eliminating them from playoff contention. James Harden led the charge in a big way, chipping in 50 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. It was Harden’s 18th career 50-point game, his ninth 50-point game this season, and his fifth career 50-point triple-double. With a MVP race heading to a close pretty soon, this game will certainly help Harden’s case.
“He’s a good player, the MVP of the league,” guard Buddy Hield said after the game. “Everybody respects him; he’s a tough matchup for everybody. He gives everybody fits. He had it going and that’s what he does every night.”
Chris Paul also had himself a quality game, scoring 22 points with 5 assists and 4 steals. Eric Gordon chipped in with 17 points on 5 of 11 three-point shooting. Gordon has rebounded well from his early season shooting slump and is now up to 34.9% three-point shooting after starting the year shooting 24%. Gordon’s shot a blistering 45.3% from three-point range in the month of March. Clint Capela had an awesome night for Houston, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds for the Rockets on 10 of 13 shooting. Capela picked apart the size of Sacramento as they had no answer for him.
“He’s been good all the time. He’s probably undervalued,” said head coach Mike D’Antoni on Clint Capela after the game. “He’s the key for us, that’s for sure.”
The Kings, the second fastest team in the NBA, pushed the ball against Houston’s defense and it showed as the Houston allowed 60 points in the first half. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Kings with 24 points on 5 of 7 three-point shooting (including a stretch where Bogdanovic made three straight threes to give the Kings their first lead) and Sacramento shot 51.7% from three-point range overall. Young guard De’Aaron Fox had 18 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds.
“They’re really good,” said D’Antoni after the game. “They got some young kids who can go. Fox, Bagley, Hill and Bogdanovic – I didn’t think they were ever going to miss.”
The Rockets play the Kings again on Tuesday in Sacramento so it’ll be interesting to see if the young team can exact any revenge.
