Rockets' Star Forward Questionable to Play vs. Kings

With one-time All-Star Alperen Sengun out of the lineup due to injury, the Houston Rockets have now suffered three losses in four tries, two of which came back-to-back in Portland.

Despite heroics from superstar Kevin Durant in both games, the Rockets were unable to hang on in either contest, losing by just one on Wednesday and six on Friday.

Head coach Ime Udoka was especially unimpressed with Friday's outing.

"You took a 37-year-old out of the game for two minutes, and you lose a 13-point lead, 11-0 run." Udoka said after the second-straight loss. "That's what went wrong. Don't play with any aggresion, confidence, mentally weak. We have a 15-point quarter, 1-for-17 from three — making shots helps, but you have to guard on one end, you have to play with some aggression on one end — the fact that we have to rely on a 37-year-old for 40-plus minutes is a problem."

The Rockets now look to a more-than-winnable matchup against the Kings, who are off to just an 8-30 start on the season. And they could be getting good news on the injury front as well.

Here are the injury reports for both the Rockets and Kings ahead of tonight's game:

Houston Rockets injuries:

Tari Eason — Out: Right ankle sprain

Tristen Newton — Out: G League

Alperen Sengun — Questionable: Right ankle sprain

Fred VanVleet — Out: Right knee ACL repair 

Sacramento Kings injuries:

Keegan Murray — Out: Left ankle sprain

Daeqwon Plowden — Out: G League

Domantas Sabonis — Out: Partial meniscus tear

Dennis Schroder — Out: League suspension

Isaiah Stevens — Out: G League

The Rockets will be without two players in Tari Eason and Fred VanVleet, who isn’t slated to play this season after suffering an offseason knee injury.

Alperen Sengun is listed as questionable to play with the right ankle sprain that has kept him out of three games, though he hasn’t quite entered the reported window of play at 10-14 days from Jan. 3.

His addition tonight would obviously be massive for Houston given the play-making and scoring limitations of the roster without him.

The Kings will be without several players as well, including a stylistically similar star in Domantas Sabonis, who has a partial meniscus tear.

The Kings will also be without an impact forward in Keegan Murray, as well as former Rocket Dennis Schroder, who is suspended for three games for confronting and attempting to strike another player following Kings-Lakers, per the NBA.

The Rockets and Kings tip off at 8 p.m. CT tonight from Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA.

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