Rockets Host Kings
With Dwight Howard out, James Harden has shouldered the responsibility.
The Houston Rockets host the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night in a battle of Western Conference playoff hopefuls.
Tip-off at Toyota Center in Houston is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET,
With 26 of the league’s 30 teams in action this Thanksgiving eve, the Kings-Rockets matchup represents a choice cut on a busy night of hardwood action.
The Story So Far
Currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, Houston (11-3, 5-2 home) is considered one of the conference’s premium teams but that may be a trick of scheduling.
Five of the Rockets’ 11 wins this season have come against opponents from the inferior Eastern Conference while another three have come against West teams with a sub-.500 record.
Kevin McHale’s side has earned quality wins over the likes of the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, but has dropped games to the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies, the teams currently occupying the conference’s top two spots. Those are the type of teams Houston will need to get the better of if it’s to emerge as a genuine threat.
The Rockets come into Wednesday’s game having won two straight after an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sacramento (9-5, 5-3 road) finds itself in a rare lofty position, currently occupying a top-eight place in the conference.
The Kings are giving fans in Sactown plenty of reasons to be cheerful, not least the fact that the city could see playoff basketball for the first time in nearly a decade. April’s postseason is still a long way off and that means plenty of hard work ahead.
The Kings have earned quality wins over the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls through the early part of the season.
On Tuesday night, the Kings handed the New Orleans Pelicans a 99-89 defeat, thanks in part to DeMarcus Cousins’ double-double and a 22-point outing for Omri Casspi, spelling the injured Rudy Gay.
The Kings – 1-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season – will ride a three-game winning streak into Toyota Center on Wednesday.
Impact Players
DeMarcus Cousins is enjoying a career year in Sacramento, averaging a double-double (23.1ppg, 12.3rpg) and throwing in 1.43 blocks for good measure.
Since arriving in River City, Rudy Gay has set about making an impact. The forward is averaging 21.1 points this season, but is likely to miss Wednesday’s game with the Rockets.
Darren Collison has been a useful addition to the Kings’ lineup. The guard is averaging 15.9 points and seven assists per contest.
Houston’s offense is spearheaded by James Harden, who is putting up consistently good numbers across the board. The guard is averaging 25.2 points, 6.4 board, 6.6 assists and 1.79 steals per game.
Dwight Howard (18.8ppg, 11.3rpg) is averaging a double-double and 2.3 blocks per game, but could be absent for Wednesday’s game.
Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza has been a nice addition. He’s averaging 13.6 points, 5.6 boards and 1.86 steals per contest.
Head-to-Head
Houston leads the all-time head-to-head series 117-87.
During the 2013-14 campaign, the two sides split a four-game series, with both teams winning once at home and once on the road.
The Kings have not won a season series against the Rockets since the 2003-04 season. Since then, Houston is 24-12 against Sacramento.
The Rockets are 11-4 against the Kings over the past four seasons and have taken 11 of the last 14 head-to-head meetings in Houston.
Wednesday’s game is the first of three head-to-head meetings between the sides this season.
Injury Report
Houston guard Patrick Beverley (hamstring) and forward Terrence Jones (leg) are both out indefinitely. Center Dwight Howard (knee) is listed as day-to-day.
Sacramento guard Darren Collison (quad) and forward Rudy Gay (Achilles) are also listed as day-to-day.
DeMarcus Cousins will likely see a heavy workload with Rudy Gay injured.
Betting Report
Betting lines for this game had yet to be released at the time of publication. You can find the latest odds and trends at the link below.
Sacramento Kings vs. Houston Rockets odds for 11/26/2014
To give you a head start on the action, here are some trends you should keep in mind before betting.
- Houston is 6-3 SU vs. Western Conference opponents this season
- Houston is 7-7-0 ATS on the season
- Houston 3-4-0 ATS at home
- Houston is 5-5-0 ATS as the favorite
- Houston (2-12-0 O/U) has heavily favored the under this season
- Sacramento is 8-5 SU vs. Western Conference opponents this season
- Sacramento is 10-3-1 ATS on the season
- Sacramento is 6-1-1 ATS on the road
- Sacramento is 7-1-1 ATS when considered an underdog
- Sacramento (7-7-0 O/U) has split the over/under evenly this season
- Houston is 11-4-0 ATS in its last 15 games against Sacramento
- Houston is 10-5-0 ATS at home against Sacramento over their last 15 meetings
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The latest basketball futures can be found here
