SACRAMENTO, California — Fred VanVleet scored 22 points, Jalen Green added 19 as Houston Rockets defeated Sacramento Kings 112-104 after the Rockets lost leading-scorer Alperen Sengun to a right knee and ankle injury.
Sengun landed awkwardly while challenging a shot by the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis with under a minute to play in the fourth. Sengun appeared to be in immediate distress and he left the court in a wheelchair after several minutes on the baseline, with his hands covering his face.
“It doesn´t diminish the win in general,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said according to AP. “I think it was one of our best road wins. Sengun had a huge part in that.”
The 21-year-old Sengun, who had 14 points prior to the injury, is averaging a career-high 21.2 points per game in his third season.
“Injuries are part of the game,” VanVleet said. “We all understand that when we signed up, but it´s always tough to see your teammates go down, especially the young ones who haven´t really been through it before.”
Elsewhere, the Oklahoma City Thunder took no chances against the struggling Memphis Grizzlies. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points and six assists in three quarters and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Memphis Grizzlies 124-93.
Rookie Cason Wallace scored a season-high 22 points, Josh Giddey had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Lu Dort scored 14 points and made all four of his 3-point tries for the Thunder. Oklahoma City won its third straight to stay at the top of the Western Conference standings.
Oklahoma City opened up a 22-8 lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back.
“They got guys fighting for contracts, fighting for minutes, and that´s a dangerous team to play,” Giddey said, “And I thought we did a good job of playing the game, not the opponent.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Kuzma scored 32 points and the Washington Wizards held on to beat the Miami Heat 110-108 for their second win in a row after ending a 16-game skid.
Corey Kispert finished with 22 points, Deni Avdija added 16 and Tyus Jones had 12 points and 16 assists for the Wizards, who got their first road victory since Jan. 29, ending an eight-game skid away from home.
“We have to stay consistent. That´s been our Achilles’ heel all year – inconsistency,” Kuzma said. “We´ve been consistently inconsistent. If we can keep showing that type of fight and grit, next game against Memphis, then I might have a different answer.”
Kuzma made 12 of 16 free throws and had nine rebounds and four of Washington´s 35 assists, four short of a team season high. Jones finished with one turnover.
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, while Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier and Bam Adebayo each finished with 16 for the Heat, who lost their third straight and fell to eighth in the East.
Kuzma had 3-pointers that began and closed a 22-10 spurt that gave Washington a 110-100 lead with 2:45 remaining.
Discussion about this post