The Houston Rockets didn't have James Harden in Saturday's game against the Kings, but they still had John Wall.
Wall was back in action less than 48 hours after making his return to the NBA, scoring 28 points to lead the Rockets to a 102-94 victory over the Kings at Toyota Center in Houston. Wall, who made his season debut Thursday after a two-year injury absence, added six assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Christian Wood posted 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Rockets (2-2). Eric Gordon scored 19. DeMarcus Cousins was held to two points on 1-of-6 shooting in his second game for Houston.
De'Aaron Fox scored 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting for the Kings (3-3). He had four assists and three turnovers.
Harrison Barnes had 19 points and seven rebounds. Buddy Hield added 17 points, making five 3-pointers.
The Rockets were missing former MVP James Harden, who was ruled out shortly before tip-off with a sprained right ankle. The Kings were missing rookie standout Tyrese Haliburton, who sustained a left wrist bone bruise in Thursday's 122-119 loss to the Rockets.
The impact of Haliburton's absence was clear as Sacramento's offense stalled at times without the young playmaker. The Kings shared the ball beautifully while going 3-1 to start the season, but the ball movement wasn't good Saturday with only 11 assists on 35 made baskets.
The Kings and Rockets traded leads throughout a high-scoring first half that ended with the teams tied at 64. Both teams shot over 50%. The Kings amassed a 24-18 rebounding advantage and outscored the Rockets 32-22 on points in the paint.
Baskets by Gordon, Wall and P.J. Tucker helped the Rockets open a seven-point lead in the third quarter. A late flourish by Fox allowed the Kings to cut the deficit to two, but the Rockets responded with a 9-0 run with Fox on the bench to start the fourth quarter.
The Rockets went up by 11 on three free throws by Gordon after Marvin Bagley fouled him on a long 3-point attempt. They extended the lead to 13 on a basket by Wall and had little trouble closing out the Kings.
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Haliburton missed the game with a bone bruise in his left wrist after taking a hard fall on a dunk attempt against the Rockets on Thursday.
Kings coach Luke Walton said Haliburton, the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, will also miss Monday's game against the Golden State Warriors. Walton said Haliburton will be reevaluated when the team returns to Sacramento.
"He got tests done yesterday," Walton said. "All came back negative, but he's pretty sore and can't really move very well right now, so we're going to shelve him for the next two games and hopefully we'll get a much clearer understanding when we get back to Sacramento."
Bone bruises can take weeks or months to heal. The injury occurred to the same wrist Haliburton broke last season at Iowa State.
Haliburton averaged 10.6 points, 4.4 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals over his first four games, garnering national attention as an early Rookie of the Year candidate.
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Harden injured his right ankle late in Thursday's game against the Kings, but his name did not appear on the team's injury report. He tested the ankle in warm-ups before being ruled out about 30 minutes before the game.
Harden led the NBA in scoring for the third year in a row in 2019-20, averaging 34.3 points per game. He is averaging 37.0 points, 11.0 assists and 5.3 assists this season.
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