Two of the hottest teams in the Western Conference will go head-to-head Thursday night when the Houston Rockets visit the Sacramento Kings in the rematch of an NBA Cup game from last month.
Sacramento prevailed the first time around, also on its home court, riding 27 points from Domantas Sabonis and 22 from De’Aaron Fox to a 120-111 victory.
The Kings had few memorable moments subsequent to that Dec. 3 meeting until firing coach Mike Brown after the club had lost five consecutive games and fallen into last place in the Pacific Division on Dec. 27.
The change to Doug Christie has produced a resurgence in last year’s 46-win club, with Sacramento having won seven of eight before a 130-115 loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday night that capped a 2-1 trip.
The Kings, who have not lost in four home games directed by Christie, now open a three-game homestand that will also feature visits from the Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors.
Christie said he’s gotten a lot of support from old friends as the Kings seek not just to make the Western Conference playoffs but win a series for the first time since the current coach was on the Sacramento roster 21 years ago.
“Mike (Bibby) popped in the other day when we were playing Miami,” Christie said of his former teammate. “(Chris Webber) has texted me numerous times. Bobby (Jackson) has texted me numerous times. Peja (Stojakovic) and Vlade (Divac) … It’s nothing but love.
“We all understand what I’m here to do. They understand it’s not about me; it’s more about our team first of all, but also our city and our organization, to try to do what we were so close to doing (winning a championship) and we didn’t accomplish it.”
Despite their success under Christie, the Kings have a long way to go to catch the Rockets in the conference standings. Houston has won five in a row and 10 of its past 13, including a surprisingly easy 128-108 road triumph over the Denver Nuggets on the front end of a back-to-back on Wednesday night.
Jalen Green, a former high school star not far from Sacramento at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., has been the driving force in Houston’s run to the second-best record in the West. He had 34 points in the win over the Nuggets, giving him 27 or more in six straight games.
Green had 28 in the earlier loss at Sacramento.
Green and another Northern California native, Amen Thompson, have developed a bit of a friendly rivalry during the Rockets’ rise in the West.
Thompson, who was a CYO and AAU standout as a youth in the Oakland suburb of San Leandro, has made his mark mostly on the defensive end. That’s something of which he’s made Green well aware.
“You see what Jalen did tonight? Unguardable,” Thompson said after Green’s 42-point explosion Monday in a two-point win against the Memphis Grizzlies. “Unless it’s me. You can tell him that.”
Thompson had only three points in the first meeting with the Kings. The second-year swingman has since developed to the point where he’s averaging 16.6 points and 12 rebounds in the Rockets’ past five games, while also finding time for a total of 16 assists, 11 steals and eight blocks.
-Field Level Media
