NBA Roundup : Rockets Rally to Beat Winless Kings

The Sacramento Kings lost again Sunday night, this time to the Houston Rockets, 129-127, at Houston.

But, for a change, Sacramento Coach Jerry Reynolds saw some positive signs as the Kings dropped to 0-5 despite leading most of the game.

The Rockets came from behind in the fourth quarter and led, 129-123, with 12 seconds to play. But Sacramento came back with 4 quick points, as Kenny Smith hit a layup with 8 seconds left, then stole the inbounds pass and fed Rodney McCray for a layup that cut Houston’s lead to 129-127 with 3 seconds left.

McCray was fouled and missed the free throw intentionally. Sacramento’s Vinny Del Negro grabbed the rebound, but his short baseline shot to tie it at the buzzer was blocked by Mike Woodson.

“We deserved to win it,” Reynolds said. “We outplayed them all the way. We don’t have a lot of depth to compete with a team on the level of Houston.”

McCray, the former Rocket facing his former teammates for the first time as a King, scored a career-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds.

Houston Coach Don Chaney said: “They always say the guys you trade come back to haunt you. I admire the way the Houston fans welcomed him back. No doubt that pumped him up.”

Of McCray’s missed free throw and Del Negro’s rebound, Chaney said: “The ball happened to bounce to them. On the inbounds pass, you can’t let that happen. You have to play the game until the final buzzer.

Olajuwon led all scorers with 34 points and had 9 rebounds. Woodson added 26 points, Otis Thorpe 18 points and 18 rebounds, Sleepy Floyd 18 points and 15 assists, and Derrick Chievous 21 points.

LaSalle Thompson had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, and Derek Smith contributed 22 and Kenny Smith 21.

Denver 143, Portland 132--Michael Adams scored 25 points, 17 in the second half, to lead the Nuggets at Portland.

Adams had 10 points in the third quarter when the Nuggets outscored Portland, 44-32, to take a 110-103 lead into the fourth quarter.

Portland’s Clyde Drexler led all scorers with 32 points, and the Blazers’ Terry Porter had 25 points and 14 assists.

Alex English and Lafayette Lever each had 23 points for the Nuggets.