Prediction: Sacramento Kings’ Box Score Game 25 at Houston Rockets
By Tyler Watts
The Sacramento Kings travel to take on the Houston Rockets on December 14, 2016. This article predicts the Kings’ box score for that game.
The Sacramento Kings head back out on the road to Houston for a battle against the Rockets tonight. This is the second meeting with the Rockets so far this season. The Houston Rockets came to the Golden 1 Center and defeated the Kings 117-104 on November 25, 2016.
Last time out, the Kings defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 116-92. Below is a highlight video from Monday’s contest in case you missed the action.
Without further ado, let us get to my prediction of the Sacramento Kings’ box score for tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets.
Box Score Prediction
The Rockets bring a unique attack under Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. They shoot 37.4 3-pointers a game, which is on pace to smash the NBA record for 3-point attempts in a season. They rank 9th in the NBA in pace.
If you flip over to the defensive end the Rockets struggle. They rank 20th in points allowed at 106.2 per game. They are also 20th in defensive rating at 105.1 points per 100 possessions allowed.
That should leave opportunities for the Kings to have offensive success, but it is tall task asking for a win. The Kings are likely to be playing without Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore not to mention they struggle at defending 3-pointers. It could be a long night in Houston for the Kings, but let us focus on a few positives.
DeMarcus Cousins will take even more shots tonight. I expect him to take 30 field goal attempts and that should lead to him easily surpassing 30 points. He blocked 5 shots in the last meeting against Houston, so be on the lookout for a sneaky good defensive statistical night for Cousins as well.
The injuries will open up bench minutes and I am intrigued to see how Coach Joerger fills them. I predicted the usual suspects of Anthony Tolliver, Matt Barnes, and Aaron Afflalo, but they recently recalled Malachi Richardson, Georgios Papagiannis, and Skal Labissiere from the D-League. Keep an eye out for who closes out the rotation tonight in Houston.
Summary
There you have it, my prediction of the Sacramento Kings box score for tonight’s game. They are facing an uphill battle, but getting some fresh faces in the rotation can sometimes be positive. Those players often look to step up big in order to see more consistent minutes. Let us hope that is the spark the Kings need to grab a victory in Houston tonight.
Next: An Update On The Sacramento Kings Rookies
Be sure to check out the all the great content on A Royal Pain including my game preview for tonight’s game. Thank you for reading.