Never get in a shootout with the Houston Rockets.
The Sacramento Kings learned this fact the hard way Saturday night at Toyota Center, dropping their second consecutive game, this one by a final of 132-112.
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Chris Paul, James Harden and Clint Capela all posted huge numbers for the Rockets, who they pushed their record over .500 for the first time this season.
Here are three takeaways as the Kings dropped back-to-back games on the road and fell to 8-8 on the season.
Offensive defense
The Kings left their defense somewhere between Memphis and the hotel in Houston. They allowed the Rockets to get in the lane, finish at the rim and shoot as many 3-pointers as they wanted.
NBA
Houston is waking up after a very slow start to the season. They were an offensive juggernaut last season, and they seem to be finding their stride.
The Rockets shot 56.8 percent from the field and knocked down 20 of 47 from long range.
The Guards
Kings coach Dave Joerger is using De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic in a three-man rotation, and the trio played well in Houston.
Fox posted 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and chipped in three assists. Hield let it fly from long range, hitting 3 of 7 from behind the arc on his way to a 23-point, seven-rebound performance. Bogdanovic played in his first set of back-to-backs and finished with 14 points and five assists in 19 minutes.
The group pushed the tempo and hit shots, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Bounce-back game for Bagley
Rookie Marvin Bagley had a rough Friday night in Memphis, scoring just seven points with a single rebound in 22 minutes of action.
He looked like a different player against the Rockets.
Coming off the bench, Bagley posted 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes. He would have seen more time on the court if the game was competitive late.
Joerger turned to Harry Giles and Skal Labissiere to play most of the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.