The Houston Rockets are back in action Sunday as they continue their brief road trip with one of their most challenging games of the season. The Rockets dropped the first two games of the current six-game road trip before bouncing back with a 115-101 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. They now look to take down the cellar-dwelling Sacramento Kings.
This will be the second of four meetings between the conference rivals this season, following Houston’s 125-119 victory at Toyota Center on Dec. 3. Both teams are playing the second game of a back-to-back.
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The Rockets have been one of the hottest teams at home in the first half of the season, winning eight of their ten games. However, their road results have been a concern, as they hold a 9-6 record away from Houston.
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More recently, several players have stepped up to help carry the load offensively, along with Kevin Durant. Perhaps the hottest Houston player has been sophomore guard Reed Shepherd. He scored a season’s second-best 28 points off the bench in last night’s win over the Nuggets.
Entering the game, the Rockets hold a 0.5-game edge over sixth-place Minnesota Timberwolves and sit 1.5 games behind fourth-place LA Lakers.
As for the Kings, their stretch of poor play has continued for an extended period, and something needs to change to fix their issues. Their current five-game losing streak has dropped them to the bottom of the Western Conference standings at 6-22, just 0.5 games behind the 14th-place New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans has shown signs of improvement, going 4-6 over their last 10 games, compared to the Kings’ 1-9 stretch during the same span.
Houston Rockets vs Sacramento Kings Starting Lineups and Depth Charts (Dec. 21)
Houston Rockets Starting Lineup and Depth Chart
The Rockets have a decision to make on Tari Eason, who continues to miss time due to a leg injury. The forward was initially set to return against Denver on Monday but was held out because of oblique soreness. He then missed Houston’s second straight loss, an overtime defeat to the Pelicans on Thursday, due to shin soreness. The Rockets are also without Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle) and Fred VanVleet (torn ACL).
Coach Ime Udoka is expected to keep the lineup the same as the last few games, going with Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun, Josh Okogie and Amen Thompson.
Sacramento Kings Starting Lineup and Depth Chart
As for the Kings, key players Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine remain unavailable for the Rockets game. Sabonis is expected to miss four to five weeks with a knee injury, while LaVine is dealing with an ankle issue and will be reevaluated in the coming week. Meanwhile, Malik Monk’s involvement remains to be seen after he was a DNP in the last two games due to a coaching decision.
Precious Achiuwa, Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan are expected to start once again.
Edited by Mervin LR
