体坛英语新闻：Rockets avenge two-game loss to Kings

HOUSTON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Houston Rockets avenged consecutive two-game loss to the Sacramento Kings 119-98 Wednesday night at Toyota Center, after the guest team lost their top scorers Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins in a row.

The star-studded Rockets didn't have either win against the Kings in their previous encounters on the season. And they desperately wanted to beat their opponent Wednesday. The ended up winning the game in an unexpected and easy way.

In the opening minutes, Kings forward Rudy Gay went out with an Achilles injury and never came back. And to the Kings' woe, Cousins left with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter. Though they didn't give in and struggled, especially in the fourth quarter when Houston sent all their bench players on court, they fell tragically and unsurprisingly to the host team.

Dwight Howard grabbed 26 points and 13 rebounds while James Harden had 24 points and nine assists. Omri Casspi had a season-high 20 points and matched his career-high with 12 rebounds. Chandler Parsons had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Derrick Williams scored 22 points with 11 rebounds and Isaiah Thomas added 20 points for the Kings.

The victory helped Houston to maintain its three-game winning streak and improve to 29-15 on the season. The Kings is 15-26 so far.