Rockets dominate the Lakers; but, fans see Kobe play well in defeat

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Rockets dominate the Lakers; but, Kobe plays well

Posted: December 12, 2015 -- 11:15 pm.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- Dwight Howard played perhaps his best game of the season Saturday night; and, the Rockets capitalized with a 120-113 win over the Sacramento Kings.

Howard met the challenge of going head-to-head with Kings' talented big man DeMarcus Cousins; and, Howard won the battle. Howard scored 22 (7 for 9 field goals, 8 for 14 free throws) points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and played solid defense against Cousins throughout the game. In 27 minutes (before fouling out), Cousins scored 14 points; but, Cousins made only 4 of his 16 field goal attempts.

"Sometimes you don’t start off great. You’ve got to keep pushing," Dwight Howard said. "You’ve got to trust each other, and I think this team is seeing now that we’ve got to rely on each other to win every single night. On the defensive end and on the offensive end, it’s the same thing. We’ve got to rely on each other. Tonight I think we did a good job of that, and in Dallas I think we did a great job of that. And we just got to continue to do a good night of that."

"The guys are believing in themselves and in each other," J.B. Bickerstaff said after the game. "I think there was a time earlier in the year when there was a lot of doubts. A lot of self doubt. A lot of doubting each other. I think that's gone now."

James Harden scored a game-high 31 points (6 for 14 field goals, 14 for 16 from the foul line) and dished nine assists.

Harden and Howard combined to offset the masterful game from Sacramento Kings' point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo scored 13 points and dished out 19 assists.

With tonight's win, the Rockets improve to 10-11 on the season and have won 5 of 6 games with Bickerstaff in charge of the team.

"Yeah, it was just a matter of time. It was a matter of time," said James Harden. "We’ve got to continue to ride this momentum, continue to help each other out, and fight for each other."