The Kings needed someone to step up with Kevin Huerter missing the game against the Houston Rockets due to a non-COVID related illness and Trey Lyles answered the call.
Lyles scores 20 points off the bench in the Kings' 135-115 victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center. However, he scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to help Sacramento outscore Houston 41-20 to pull away with the win.
Additionally, when the 27-year-old was called upon to step up, the Kings forward wasn't caught off guard. Lyles has worked behind the scenes to be prepared whenever he had to put on the hero cape.
"I just stay in the gym, stay confident in my work, get extra shots up, stay ready condition wise and doing the things I need to do," Lyles told Morgan Ragan and Matt Barnes on "Kings Postgame Live" after the win.
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"And when my number is called, I got to go out there and perform. And like I said earlier, do little things that help the team win and that stand out to coach [Mike Brown]."
While De'Aaron Fox recorded 24 points, the Kings' star also had nine assists and noted that Lyles was shooting the ball well throughout the game, not only in the fourth quarter.
"[Lyles] had 15 in the fourth?" Fox said postgame. "I mean, just the way that they were playing him, he shot the ball well. I think he was shooting the ball well throughout the course of the game anyways. There was one he was like I was looking at him; it was the last corner, the one he hit in the right corner. And I was trying to see what his defender would do. He would step up towards me if he would start inching out, and he didn't move.
"So it's really just trying to give him the ball where he can just catch it and shoot it. And that's been an emphasis for us in practice, where we've thrown balls that you have to reach for, and it just takes time away from getting into your shot. So that was just something I was conscious of just trying to get guys just put it right in their shot pocket."
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Furthermore, Fox highlighted that Lyles' performance against the Rockets speaks volumes of the Kings' depth that allows them to compensate for the loss of Huerter.
"We've talked about the depth of this roster and how we have multiple guys that can explode for a 20 or 30-point game," Fox said. "So with Kev out, we're not asking one person to fill the void, but we want everybody to just step up a little bit. And like you said, Trey had a great game tonight."
Lyles and the Kings will attempt to replicate their success against the Rockets again on Friday night when the two Western Conference foes meet at 7 p.m. PT.