Houston Rockets

Rockets face Kings with playoffs on the horizon (Apr 09, 2017)

Published Apr. 8, 2017 8:39 p.m. ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The regular season to-do list doesn't have much left on it for the Houston Rockets.

James Harden, the NBA's leader in double-doubles, wouldn't mind adding to the total. And forward Ryan Anderson's return from an ankle injury means a return to the sixth-man role for guard Eric Gordon, creating a change to coach Mike D'Antoni's rotation that has only three games left to solidify itself.

Beyond that, Houston's goals for Sunday's game against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center can be boiled down to two words: stay healthy.

Houston (53-26) is locked into the third slot in the Western Conference standings and a likely meeting with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Rockets will have a fully intact squad against the Kings, but forward Nene is expected to sit out and rest. Anderson's return will be monitored closely. He scored nine points and made his first three 3-pointers during a 13-minute stint in a 114-109 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday in his return from a six-game absence.

The Sacramento native has started all 69 games he has played this season, and his return sent Gordon back to a sixth-man role. Gordon has averaged 16.4 points in 30 minutes in that role this season.

"It's good to get Ryan back," Gordon told the Houston Chronicle. "We just need to get together and play well these last couple of games. We've always had good chemistry all year. When guys are out, the next guy steps up. But it's always better to have everybody on the floor and really acclimate yourselves before the playoffs start."

Harden maintains the lead role for the Rockets, and D'Antoni is likely to monitor his minutes closely. Harden, widely considered to be in a two-player race with Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook for the NBA's MVP Award, will bring team-leading averages of 29.2 points (second in the NBA), 11.2 assists (first) and 8.1 rebounds (21st) into the game. He also leads the NBA with 69 double-doubles and has at least 30 points and double-digit assists in 28 game this season.

Against Sacramento, Harden has averaged 16.0 points, 10.7 assists and 9.0 rebounds in three victories this season. Houston has beaten the Kings in 11 of the past 12 meetings.

The Kings (31-48) will be trying to avoid a season sweep by the Rockets for the first time since 1997-98, but they look nothing like the team Houston beat three times earlier this season.

Sacramento leaned heavily on two rookies down the stretch Friday in a 98-94 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, one of them being guard Buddy Hield, the focal point of the team's All-Star break trade of center DeMarcus Cousins.

Hield threw away a sidelines pass after a timeout with five seconds left that ultimately dropped Sacramento to 7-15 since the deal. Hield is averaging 14.5 points but also 2.2 turnovers.

Another recent highlight for the Kings: Second-year center Willie Cauley-Stein has four straight games of double-digit scoring, matching the longest stretch of his career.

"That's all this time is (for) right now," Cauley-Stein told the Sacramento Bee. "Gaining experience."