Final
  for this game

Rockets use balanced attack to down Kings

Jan 14, 2012 - 5:28 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Kyle Lowry had 25 points to lead five Houston scorers in double digits and the Rockets used a strong second half to pull away for a 103-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Samuel Dalembert and Luis Scola both had 21 points to go along with 16 and 11 rebounds, respectively, while Kevin Martin netted 13 points and Chandler Parsons added 11 for Houston, which won for the second time in three games.

Tyreke Evans scored a game-high 27 points for the Kings, who fell to 4-8 on the season.

"We just didn't make our open shots. They beat us up badly on the boards and they were making their shots," Kings forward J.J. Hickson said.

The Rockets trailed 52-50 entering the third quarter, but Martin opened the scoring in the second half with a turnaround jumper to tie the game and the Rockets would never fall behind again.

After a Donte Greene layup brought the Kings within three at 69-66 with 3:03 left in the third, Houston reeled off a 9-2 run sparked by four straight Lowry free throws to take a double-digit lead and held an 81-72 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Houston then scored the first six points of the final quarter to open a 15- point cushion and cruised from there, leading by no less than nine points for the remainder of the game.

"In the second half we picked it up," said Lowry. "We made big shots and big plays when we needed to."

The Kings had control of the game early, breaking a 4-4 tie in the first quarter with a 16-6 run to jump out to a 20-10 lead.

But after trading buckets on the next four possessions, Sacramento closed out the first quarter by scoring 14 of the final 16 points and took a 28-26 lead into the second.

The Kings never trailed in the second and led by as much as eight in an evenly matched quarter that saw both teams score 24 points en route to a 52-50 Sacramento lead at the break.

Game Notes

Sacramento's DeMarcus Cousins had four points and four rebounds to snap his four-game double-double streak...Greene finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.