Christian Wood posted his 20th double-double of the season and Eric Gordon converted a teammate’s timely offensive rebound into a basket in the waning moments as the Houston Rockets beat the host Sacramento Kings 118–112 on Sunday night.
Wood had 23 points and 14 rebounds while Kevin Porter Jr. added 23 points and seven assists to help the Rockets hold on. Houston survived when Jalen Green snagged an offensive rebound after Porter had missed a 3-pointer and Gordon followed with a driving layup with 12.5 seconds left for a 116–112 lead.
Green and Gordon scored 15 points apiece for the Rockets while Garrison Mathews added 17 off the bench, drawing a flagrant-2 foul on Kings guard De'Aaron Fox that led to his ejection with 8:14 left to play. Fox finished with 14 points and four assists for the Kings.
Buddy Hield scored 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field off the Sacramento bench while Terence Davis added 17 points and Harrison Barnes 12. The Kings allowed Houston to shoot 53.9 percent from the field and make 16 of 40 3-pointers, but they remained in contention by converting 22 turnovers into 34 points.
Sacramento led 88–85 entering the final period by closing the third quarter with a 13–4 run that came courtesy of five Houston turnovers.
Houston opened the game on a 13–0 surge and extended the lead to 21–5 on 9-of-13 shooting with 14 points in the paint before the Kings found their footing. Hield provided the ignition, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first quarter as Sacramento trailed 29–21 at the end of the period.
The Kings closed the first period with a 16–8 push; however, Houston appeared to reclaim control when Mathews drilled a 3-pointer that pushed their lead to 40–26 with 9:17 left in the half.
But the Kings seized momentum again following a timeout and secured their first lead at 52–50 on a Chimezie Metu corner 3-pointer at the 3:05 mark. Sacramento capped the half by outscoring the Rockets 34–15 after the 14-point deficit with Davis, Fox and Barnes tallying eight points apiece.
