Kings vs. Rockets Takeaways: Heartbreaking Loss Goes Beyond Eric Gordon's Late-Game Foul
HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets gave better effort on both ends of the court, but a controversial call led to a 130-128 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Here are three takeaways from the Rockets' heartbreaking loss Wednesday night inside the Toyota Center.
Eric Gordon's foul will hurt for a while:
The Rockets felt they had done enough to win, especially given how the team responded following an embarrassing outing to the Kings Monday night. Unfortunately, Gordon's late-game foul on De'Aaron Fox stole a moment of victory for Houston.
"I think we did really good," Gordon said. "There was a moment in the third where they got on a run, but we didn't back down like we normally do. We built up, sat down on defense and stayed in the game."
Gordon was called for a shooting foul on Fox with 0.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Rockets held a one-point lead over the Kings (128-127) at the time of the foul. But Fox, who finished the game with 31 points, drilled all three free-throw attempts to secure a victory for the Kings.
Gordon did not agree with the call. But Crew Chief official Gediminas Petraitis reassured that Gordon's lower body came in contact with Fox on his shot attempt.
"I knew he was going to get the ball," Gordon said. "It’d be different if I was running into him. When he already shot, his leg hit my body, but my plan was to go right by him."
Gordon's foul wasn't the lone reason the Rockets collapsed against the Kings:
As costly as Gordon's foul was, it only made up a portion of the Rockets' loss.
Houston held a 128-123 lead with 1 minute and 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter. The Rockets allowed the Kings to close the game on a 7-0 run, but their offensive struggles were due to several late-game turnovers.
The Rockets turned the ball over three times during their final four possessions. The first came when Fox stole the ball from Jalen Green for a breakaway dunk with 1 minute and 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
On Houston's next possession, the officials called K.J. Martin for an offensive foul with 52.2 seconds left, which led to Fox connecting on a floater. And on their final offensive possession, Malik Monk stole Alperen Sengun's inbound pass. Sengun's intentional target was Martin.
"It should not have come down to that last play," coach Stephen Silas said. "We clean those plays up, it’s a whole, totally different game. But we fought back."
Experiencing Mr. Clutch in De'Aaron Fox:
Fox stepped up huge in the fourth quarter. His contributions went beyond knocking down three consecutive free throws for the Kings. Fox recorded 13 points and five assists in the final period.
He came into the game leading the league in total clutch points scored with 119. Fox has now scored 10 or more points in the final frame in 17 games following his performance in Houston.
"I've taken big shots, been at the free throw line at big games, so it doesn't change," Fox said.
Best performance:
On the night before his 21st birthday, Jalen Green recorded his third game of scoring 40 or more points. He scored 41 on 12-of-22 shooting, 6-of-9 from behind the arc. Green was crucial down the stretch by scoring a dozen points in the fourth quarter.
Worst performance:
Ironically, Gordon, and not due to being on the end of a last-second call that cost the Rockets a win. He scored just nine points on 3-of-7 shooting and committed five turnovers. Gordon finished with a minus-two in 31 minutes and 27 seconds of action.
Final Words:
"This was very, very disappointing. We played. Got down. We fought. We did all the things we talked about the last two days. Obviously, they are a hard team to guard. We should have won this game." — Stephen Silas
You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24
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