The young Houston Rockets have lost seven straight games and 12 of 13, overall, and the quest to turn things around doesn’t get any easier with a four-game Western Conference road trip.
First on the agenda is Sacramento, where the Rockets will play a pair of games on Wednesday and Friday nights versus a resurgent Kings team that is currently at No. 5 in the West standings and firmly in the mix for a spot in the 2023 NBA playoffs.
Sacramento hasn’t had a winning season or playoff berth since 2006, which represents the NBA’s longest active playoff drought.
Houston native De’Aaron Fox, who leads the Kings in scoring, should relish the opportunity to play two games versus his hometown team. It should also be a fun matchup between rookie forwards Jabari Smith Jr. (Rockets) and Keegan Murray (Kings), who were drafted in consecutive picks at No. 3 and No. 4, overall, in the 2022 first round.
When and How to Watch
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 11
- Time: 9 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: AT&T SportsNet Southwest, NBA League Pass
- Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free in Houston markets)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets (10-30)
- Guard: Kevin Porter Jr.
- Guard: Jalen Green
- Forward: Eric Gordon
- Forward: Jabari Smith Jr.
- Center: Alperen Sengun
Sacramento Kings (21-18)
- Guard: De’Aaron Fox
- Guard: Kevin Huerter
- Forward: Harrison Barnes
- Forward: Keegan Murray
- Center: Domantas Sabonis
Projected lineups are based on each team’s prior game.
Injury reports
Houston’s injury report is clean, though they did recently send rookie guard TyTy Washington back to their NBA G League affiliate (the Rio Grande Valley Vipers) due to the full roster.
Sacramento’s injury report is clean, as well. It’s a relative rarity — two fully healthy NBA teams in the middle of January!
