Rockets beat Kings however lose leading scorer Alperen Şengün to knee injury

Fred VanVleet scored 22 points, Jalen Green included 19 and the Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 112-104, on Sunday.

The Rockets might have lost leading scorer Alperen Şengün to a right knee injury when he landed awkwardly while difficult a shot by the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis with under a minute to play in the 4th. Şengün appeared to be in instant distress, and he left the court in a wheelchair after anumberof minutes on the standard, with his hands covering his face.

The 21-year-old Şengün, who had 14 points previous to the injury, is averaging a career-high 21.2 points per videogame in his 3rd season.

Seven gamers completed in double figures for the Rockets, who have won 4 of 5 as they appearance to make a push towards a area in the play-in competition. Houston is now 4 1/2 videogames back of the 10th seed in the Western Conference.

Sabonis led the Kings with 25 points and 15 rebounds.

Sacramento cut a 17-point lead down to 5 late in the 4th quarter, however Houston held off a late push, with Green striking a 3 to push the lead to 8 with under a minute to play.

The Rockets got control in the 3rd quarter, going on a 13-0 run and taking benefit of 5 straight turnovers by the Kings to take an 86-73 lead into the 4th. Şengün had 8 points in the quarter, and the Kings held the Rockets to simply 14 points and 4 field objectives.

Houston swept the Kings this season, likewise whipping Sacramento in successive home videogames in November. The Rockets had dropped 4 of the last 5 to the Kings on the roadway. They have now won 3 straight on the roadway, a season-high.

Sacramento dropped to seventh in the West, goinginto the videogame connected with Phoenix for the last area to prevent the play-in competition.

The Rockets tracked by 13 points in the veryfirst half, however completed on a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to 59-54 at halftime, with VanVleet making back-to-back 3-guidelines.

Reporting by The Associated Press.