Two things were certain after Tuesday night.
The Sacramento Kings? They're good.
The state of the Houston Rockets? Not so good.
Chris Webber was a man among smaller men, scoring 35 points and snaring 12 boards to lead the Kings past the Rockets 110-87 in Sacramento.
The loss drops the Rockets' record to 25-42, putting them in a tie with Cleveland for 5th worst record in the league (see Lottery Race 2002). The Kings improve to a league-best 48-18.
The Rockets just didn't have it going on offensively. Steve Francis finished with 13 points, 8 assists and 6 boards, but shot just 4-15. Kenny Thomas, going up against Webber, was just 4-14 from the floor. Eddie Griffin, who twisted his ankle in Monday's loss to the Clippers, did not play and Dan Langhi saw 26 minutes in his absence... and Langhi shot 4-14 from the field.
Cuttino Mobley led the Rockets with 17 points, having hit 7-17 from the floor. Kelvin Cato may have been the most impressive, connecting on 7-8 shots for 16 points to go with 6 boards in 25 minutes of action.
The Rockets were a fatal 1-15 from long range, with Mobley and Steve going a combined 0-for-10. MAJOR ouch.
"You can't say it was one of those nights," said Stevie. "That's one of our good assets: making 3-pointers. We weren't able to make 3-pointers, or even shots from inside the arc. If you can't match them points for points, you're in trouble."
Webber though just wasn't going to be denied. He hit 15-20 shots and the Rockets (clearly) had no one that could even contain him. CWebb promised to do serious damage to the Rockets ("I'm going to try to kill them every year") for not having pursued him as a free agent this past offseason. He delivered on his promise tonight.
Bobby Jackson added 20 points for the Kings.
The West Coast swing continues for the Rockets, but they will finally get some rest after playing 3 games in 4 nights. They'll take on the Sonics this Friday.
