The Houston Rockets got off to a woeful start to the year, losing each of their first three games by exactly 20 points. They got back in the saddle by upsetting Oklahoma City on Monday, and can keep their mojo going if they can beat the Sacramento Kings on the road Friday night.
SCHEDULING
We're a little worried about this stretch of games for the Kings. They've got Memphis on Tuesday and Phoenix on Wednesday, and though they have a day off Thursday, they have Houston on Friday and Golden State on Saturday. That's about as tough of a five-day stretch as it gets, and George Karl is going to have to be really careful about his player usage in this game with the Warriors on deck.
INJURIES
The report on Demarcus Cousins is that he's going to miss two games with an Achilles strain. Theoretically, that means he should be back on Friday night, and not a moment too soon with Dwight Howard waiting to compete against him.
However, these are the types of injuries which fester with big men, so keep an eye on Cousins' status as we head closer to Friday's tip.
Both Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are still out injured, and neither has been cleared to start practicing again as of Tuesday. Motiejunas has a back problem which has annoyed since last year, while Jones has a cut on his eyelid which is proving to be a massive problem.
KEY MATCHUP
The Rockets failed to score more than 92 points in any of their first three games of the year, but they've gotten back to what they know works at this point. The ball needs to start in the hands of James Harden, and everyone else needs to get the heck out of his way.
Harden had a great game against the Thunder on Monday, scoring 37 points. He got to the foul line 11 times as well, something which has become a staple of his game. We're not sure what the Kings are going to do to counter the bearded one.
The combination of Ben McLemore, Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison just doesn't do it for us when it comes to defending against a player like Harden, and that could signal another really big game for Houston's superstar.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Kings are in a lot of trouble in this game if Cousins can't go. Defense is completely optional to them, and they're going to try to run up and down the court and score 120 points. That's a great strategy against some teams, but Houston does it better than most.
We suspect Houston is going to take care of Orlando on Wednesday night and follow that up with a big win here in Sac-Town, though keep a close eye on this game if you have bet on it. If the Rockets aren't running their offense through Harden and are insistent on letting Ty Lawson have his hands on the ball too much, you might want to bail on the bet with BookMaker's NBA live betting options.
Houston 112, Sacramento 103
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