DeMar Derozan was on point all night in Sacramento Kings’ game against the Houston Rockets and so, everybody expected him to take the shot when they need one to steal the win. That’s what Ime Udoka expected, too. However, that’s not what happened.
Instead, the ball went to Dennis Schroder who was waiting in the corner for a 3-point shot. He sank it and the Kings steal one from Western Conference contenders after the additional five minutes.
DENNIS SCHRODER GAME-WINNER IN OT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/j48JGvqz0Q
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 22, 2025
“Debo made a great play down the stretch, making that pass, having the trust in his teammates,” Schroder said when asked about the winning play.
Udoka admitted after the game that their eyes were on Derozan who scored 27 points, mostly from the mid-range. Rockets were up by just 2 points before Schroder’s heartbreaking shot.
Ime Udoka said the Rockets anticipated DeMar DeRozan getting the isolation on the final play. The breakdown came when Tari Eason left Dennis Schröder, who hit the game-winning three, despite Udoka’s instruction to stay home on shooters.
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) December 22, 2025
Four players scored more than 20 points in the rare win for the Kings, led by Derozan, followed by Keegan Murray (26), Schroder (24), and Russell Westbrook (21) who also took the game-tying three to force the overtime.
Ime Udoka says Rockets lost even before OT
Rockets are the more favored team in this match up but Udoka does not think they came out with the right mentality in the game.
“It wasn’t just the fourth quarter, it was the entire game. Our approach wasn’t right,” he said.
He also emphasized how his squad played with complacency as they saw their double digit leads get chipped away by their hosts little by little, leading to the overtime.
“Way before overtime, it’s that whatever allows us to even get to overtime… messing around with the game the first three quarters puts us in that position,” he said.
Rockets have a big problem right now as stats show they are not doing that well in the overtime period. Their last two losses also went to overtime. They were against Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans.
The Rockets have now lost 9 games this season.
8 of them have come in clutch time… 😳
Houston is also now 1-4 in overtime games. pic.twitter.com/j6bqXDZqTn
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 22, 2025
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