Scola, Ariza, help Rockets hold on for 113-106 victory over Kings

Scola, Ariza, help Rockets hold off Kings

HOUSTON — Luis Scola scored 22 points and grabbed key rebounds in the final minutes, and the Houston Rockets held off the Sacramento Kings 113-106 Saturday night.

The Rockets blew a 15-point, second-quarter lead and had to scrap in the final minutes of the fourth quarter before improving their record in the second game of back-to-backs to 4-0 this season.

The Kings played without rookie Tyreke Evans, who sprained a finger on his right hand diving for a ball in Friday night’s 104-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He scored 29 points against the Mavericks and is averaging 18.2 points this season.

The Kings had six players in double figures, led by Spencer Hawes with 24 and Beno Udrih with 18. Trevor Ariza added 19 for the Rockets.

Scola’s basket snapped a 101-all tie with 3:41 to play. He followed with two rebounds that helped the Rockets stay ahead.

The Rockets led 59-52 to start the third quarter, but the Kings came out shooting 3-pointers, two to start the period by Donte Greene. Sacramento used an 11-0 spurt midway through the quarter to take its first lead of the game, 71-69 on a basket by Omri Casspi with 5:40 left.

Scola took charge from the beginning, leading the Rockets’ strong start with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the first quarter. The Rockets shot 65 percent in the period to open a 33-24 lead.

Notes: The Rockets lost to the Kings 109-100 on Nov. 13 despite having three players with 20 points: Ariza (28), Shane Battier (23) and Scola (20). The Rockets had a three-game winning streak early in the season but haven’t won consecutive games since. Houston has won the last five games against Sacramento at home. The Kings have scored 100 points in seven of their last eight games. Rockets coach Rick Adelman is the winningest coach in Kings history (395-229).