The NBA regular season continues, with the West ushering in a fish-belly showdown, with the Rockets sitting at home to face the Kings.
The two teams have had a battle in the last game, and in the end the Kings narrowly defeated the Rockets, the Kings, although only ranked 12th in the West, have lost only one of their last four games, 3.5 wins away from the tenth-place Spurs, and despite the absence of both the inner and outer core Sass and Fox, the team still has a theoretical chance to reach the top ten.
On the Rockets side, the team firmly occupies the bottom position in the West, and the overall record is poor, but after the absence of veterans such as Wood, Schroeder and Gordon, a group of young people have delivered better performances.
As soon as the game began, Barnes scored two points first to give the Kings the lead, and rockets Tate, Green and Matthews responded quickly to help the team rebound and get the lead.
Coupled with the Kings' dud, the Rockets quickly widened the point difference to double digits, and at one point widened the point difference to as much as 19 points, completely suppressing the Kings, and the performance of the double gun in the backcourt was gratifying.
Although the Kings' late-quarter form picked up, the Rockets' offensive momentum did not diminish, and at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers still held a 15-point lead.
In the second quarter, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, with the Kings blossoming inside and outside the offensive end, and the Rockets looking helpless, which forced the point difference between the two teams to be forced closer.
With four minutes left in the second quarter, the Kings managed to catch up, but the Rockets showed good resilience in the second half of the quarter and regained the lead, and at the end of the half, the Rockets held a five-point lead.
The Rockets continued the hot state of the second quarter and re-opened the point difference to double digits, after which the two teams started a tug-of-war around a 10-point difference.
Fortunately, at the end of the quarter, the Kings regained their touch, under the leadership of Josh Jackson, constantly narrowing the point gap, and the difference between the two teams was still 5 points after the third quarter.
Entering the final quarter of the scramble, the Kings continued the state of the second half of the third quarter, quickly closing the point difference at the beginning of the quarter and successfully completing the counter-overtaking.
Although the Rockets regained the lead, the team collapsed somewhat in the second half of the quarter, eventually losing 117-122 to the Kings.
Although the Rockets lost the game, the performance of the young players was still remarkable.
And according to the Rockets' plan this season, losing is not necessarily a good thing, but there is hope to kill two birds with one stone, on the one hand, it can ensure that the team gets the bottom three positions, so as to determine the maximum probability of competing for the title, on the other hand, it can let go and cultivate young people.
Throughout the game, the Rockets scored in double figures, including Matthews with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, Tate 15 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, Garruba 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks, and Fernando 12 points and 7 rebounds.
In addition, Kevin Porter Jr. continued his form, playing 38 minutes, shooting 11-of-24, and delivering 27 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals, with only 2 turnovers.
Although there are still problems in the handling of key balls, for a young player, Porter Jr.'s growth is visible to the naked eye, and the future as a sixth man is undoubtedly an excellent choice.
Green, one of the rockets' future cores, is in a more fiery state, playing 40 minutes, shooting 9-of-24, and delivering 33 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Green scored a new career-high single-game scoring score of 33 points before he scored 32 points twice, which was also his fourth consecutive game to score at least 20 points and hit at least six three-pointers, tied with Harden for second in team history, and the first was also Harden's retention, for five consecutive games.
In addition, Green scored at least 20 points in five consecutive games and hit five three-pointers, equaling Harden's second-longest record in franchise history, the longest (12 games).