Rockets survive Kings for first win of season

Photo courtesy of @HoustonRockets (Twitter)

It certainly wasn't easy but the Rockets managed to survive the Kings (and 2020) for their first win of the new season.

A series of clutch Harden shots and resilient plays helped to push Houston over the Sacramento Kings on New Year's Eve by a score of 122-119, earning the team's first victory.

Thursday night's game was the most offensively impressive performance of the young season, which can likely be attributed to the return of key players to the rotation. After two consecutive poor performances from the bench, the team then found stability in that unit with the return of some big names—in their first games back, Eric Gordon (17p) and DeMarcus Cousins (8p) were big veteran sparks off the bench. The bench had 35 points as a unit, easily their most of the season.

It was the stars that dominated the game, however, especially late. After scoring only one point in the first quarter, James Harden was nearly automatic from the second quarter onward, especially in the fourth quarter. Harden finished with 33 points on 10-24 shooting with eight assists and six rebounds. He made nine free throws, including four late ones to maintain the lead for the Rockets.

Joining Harden in the scoring action was John Wall, who looked good in his first game of the season, and his first regular season action since 2018. He was an equal balance of facilitation and scoring, going for 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds in his Rockets' debut.

A sloppy start to the fourth quarter saw the Rockets allow five straight turnovers to begin the period, allowing the Kings to sprint to a late lead. But James Harden and budding star Christian Wood (21p/12r) kept the Rockets in it long enough to help the Rockets pull out the win.

"It's remarkable," Wood said about Harden post-game. "What he does on the floor, the way he operates, it's crazy. I couldn't really explain it to you."

It's a big win for a lot of reasons, but it's a landmark win for coach Stephen Silas, who earned his first win of his career as a head coach with the victory tonight. The entire team, led by John Wall, awarded him the game ball.

"Just happy for him to win his first game," Harden said when asked about the achievement. "Let's see how many more we can get."

"He's the coolest kid in the house..." John Wall added. "I call him Slim."

The Rockets end a hectic 2020 with a mark in the win category, and will head into 2021 with a record of 1-2, but 1-0 with a full, healthy roster. Their next game will be the latter half of the team's two-game set against the Kings on Saturday.