Russell Westbrook had a season-high 34 points and P.J. Tucker a career-best 19 rebounds, but the Houston Rockets (15-8) wasted those performances in a 119-118 home loss Monday to the Kings (10-13).
The Rockets took a 118-116 lead with just one second left to play on a Westbrook layup, but Sacramento’s Nemanja Bjelica took advantage of a blown coverage to hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Buddy Hield led the Kings with 26 points and six made three-pointers, including one with under 10 seconds left to tie the game after Ben McLemore had briefly given the Rockets a three-point lead at 116-113.
Both teams combined for four tying or go-ahead shots in the final 20 seconds, punctuated by Bjelica’s game-winner.
Great play design from Kings on this game winner. Elevator screen for Bogdanovic but the key is that he curls. Tucker tries to protect on a potential lob. 2nd key is Barnes backscreen for Hield. That engages Harden, no one to help on Bjelica's cut and Tucker can't recover in time pic.twitter.com/mwpfBu72wK
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) December 10, 2019
WESTBROOK. CLUTCH 🚀 pic.twitter.com/jjojie3ABl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 10, 2019
After the game, head coach Mike D’Antoni appeared quite subdued and blamed his defense for the game’s final shot.
Mike D'Antoni on final possession: "We just left a guy wide open for no reason whatsoever." pic.twitter.com/CuABweaF95
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) December 10, 2019
Tucker and Clint Capela (13 points, 17 rebounds) combined for 36 rebounds between them, leading Houston to a 51-37 edge on the glass. However, the Kings made up for that with an unusual 20-17 advantage against the always three-point-happy Rockets in made three-pointers — including the last two buckets in the final 10 seconds.
D'Antoni was critical of the Rockets effort and energy, saying they lost because "we didn't play hard the whole game."
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) December 10, 2019
The loss marred what was undoubtedly Westbrook’s finest night yet with the Rockets, with his 34 points coming on 13-of-17 shooting (76.5%) from the field and 2-of-4 (50%) from behind the three-point arc. He also had eight assists in his 36 minutes (box score).
Backcourt mate James Harden had an uncharacteristically inefficient night with 27 points on 8-of-19 shooting (42.1%) and eight turnovers, though he did have two made three-pointers wiped off the board late in the third quarter on controversial replay decisions.
Harden was very short, very brief with the media after the game. pic.twitter.com/yr039xdN7w
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) December 10, 2019
Coming off a brutal loss, Houston hits the road for a two-game road trip at Cleveland (5-18) and Orlando (11-12) on Wednesday and Friday.
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