Kings at Rockets
The Houston Rockets have moved on from the Carmelo Anthony situation and are on the verge of moving over .500 for the first time this season, a goal they'll try to accomplish Saturday against the visiting Sacramento Kings. Hours after the team announced it would waive the 12-time All-Star Anthony, it went out and crushed the defending champion Golden State Warriors 107-86 on Thursday.
James Harden scored 27 points and rookie Gary Clark -- who will gobble up the bulk of Anthony's minutes -- made a big impact off the bench as the Rockets matched a season high with their third straight win. "This is a good step ... it's early but we do have the potential to be really good in different areas of the game and we've just got to keep building on it," coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters after the win. The Kings opened their two-game road trip with a 112-104 loss at Memphis on Friday night, falling to 2-4 since a five-game winning streak. They've dropped eight in a row at Houston.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Sacramento), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE KINGS (8-7): De'Aaron Fox continued to impress with 23 points and 10 assists in the loss to Memphis, his third double-double in seven games this month. Buddy Hield chipped in 16 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 12 off the bench for Sacramento, which fell to 4-4 on the road. Willie Cauley-Stein, who had his double-double streak end at two in Friday's loss, had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Kings to a win over the Rockets in last season's finale.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (7-7): Clark had nine points -- all on 3-pointers -- to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 28 minutes against the Warriors as he carves out a more significant role with Anthony out of the way. "Crap, that was my favorite player at one point," Clark told ESPN of Anthony. "But it literally didn't matter who was there. I was going to make sure I got on the court, because I know what I bring to the table." Harden averaged 27.5 points and nine assists in two wins over the Kings last season before sitting out a loss in the third and final meeting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clark has committed one turnover in 218 minutes this season.
2. Kings PF Nemanja Bjelica is 5-for-8 from 3-point range over the last two games and 28-for-56 on the season.
3. Houston has won 14 of the last 16 meetings.