HOUSTON-John Wall scored 28 points and the Houston Rockets defeated the Sacramento Kings 102-94 on Saturday, although he played without the injured James Harden.
Harden, who sat out with a sprained right ankle, was not listed on the injury report and coach Stephen Silas did not mention his injury in his availability before the game. The Team announced that it would not play about 38 minutes before the start of the game.
Wall, who played the first two Houston games due to finding recent time contacts, missed the entire last season and played only 32 games two years ago because of injuries. He scored 22 points on the debut of his Rockets on Thursday after an exchange from Washington to make him the first player to score 50 points in his first two games after an absence of at least two years since Michael Jordan did it in 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I’ve just brought a lot of work and dedication to this point,” Wall said. “I couldn’t ask for a better Start to be 2-0 in my first two games.”
Silas didn’t know what to expect from Wall after being out for so long. But he was certainly impressed.
“Whatever my expectations were, he obviously exceeded them,” he said.
The Rockets scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 92-81 with about 8 1/2 minutes left. Eric Gordon led the Team in that stretch and made a 3 points and three free throws.
Sacramento finished a Diskette of more than 3 1/2 minutes shortly after on a dunk by richaun Holmes.
Both Teams then had trouble scoring goals as they missed 10 shots in a row. Gordon finally managed to do a shot for Houston with just under five minutes left, and Wall added a bucket a few seconds after to extend the lead to 96-83.
Silas was pleased with his team’s defense on Saturday and said that without Harden’s skills, it was even more important to focus on that part of the game.
“We really bent and played a little defense,” Silas said. “To be good, we have to be good in defense. You can’t just outdo people.”
The Kings used an 8-2 run, topped by four points from Harrison Barnes, to get closer to 98-91 with less than a minute remaining. But Christian Wood answered with a dunk to put the game out of reach.
Harden had started the first three games in Houston this season and has an average of 37 points with 11 Assists.
De’aaron Fox scored 23 points for the Kings, who lost to the Rockets for a second consecutive game after winning three of their first four games.
“Guys should feel bad about losing, just like me, losing is painful,” coach Luke Walton said. “But you should also feel very comfortable playing in the group.”
He said that they stagnated rudely in the second half and that they were particularly disappointed by their lack of Assists.
“We only had 11 Assists as a Team tonight, which is terrible,” he said. “That’s not what we are as a group.”
Wood scored 20 points and 16 rebounds, and Gordon added 21 points for Houston.
The Kings have reduced the lead to two points from the 3-point Buddy Hield with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. Wall made four quick points after that to stretch the lead to 79-73.
The Rockets had risen by seven by the end of the third quarter before Fox scored the final five points in the quarter to reduce the deficit to 83-81 by finishing fourth.
TIP-INS
Kings Barnes added 19 points with seven Rebounds. … Hield had 17 points and made five 3 points. … Sacramento made 9 of 28 3-pointers.
Rockets: Sterling Brown had 11 points and six Rebounds. … Houston made 13 3 points. .
UNTIL THE NEXT
Kings: Sacramento visit Golden State on Monday before playing seven consecutive home games.
Rockets: Houston hosts Dallas on Monday night and will play four of its next five home games.