The Sacramento Kings travel to Texas to play the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Saturday.

The Kings (8-7) have traded off wins and losses across their last five games, as they come into this matchup losing four of their last six games in total. That's what many skeptics expected, as the 6-3 start appeared to be a miracle for a team who many anticipated would finish bottom-three in the league. That notion is way past this team at this point though, as many of their young players have had breakout seasons. Willie Cauley-Stein and De'Aaron Fox have been especially good, as they lead this team in scoring, rebounding and assists. It's also gotten this team up to ninth in scoring, as there's a ton of promise surrounding this team. They do sit 25th in points allowed though, as the ugly defense has been an issue for this team for nearly a decade now. It's hard to see that improving, as there's simply no defensive stoppers on this roster.

The Rockets (7-7) come into this matchup winning three-straight and six of their last eight games in total. Some of the wins recently have to make fans encouraged too, as the most recent victory was a blowout win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. That followed up a road win over the surprising Denver Nuggets, as this team appears to be fully back at this point. What's strange about this club is the fact that they're getting it done with defense, not offense. In fact, Houston ranks fifth in points allowed, while owning the second-slowest pace in the league. Those are surprising statistics but the offensive numbers are downright shocking. In fact, the Rockets sit 27th in scoring and 29th in assists. Those are baffling numbers considering this club ranked top-three in both those categories last season and it's hard to understand why. One has to figure that the offensive and defensive splits will regress, as this offense is too potent to post numbers like these.

Houston has won 10-straight games over Sacramento dating back to 2014, with an average margin north of 10 points per game.