NBA Game Recap - Sacramento at Houston
Sat Nov 17, 2018 8:00 PM EST

LAC
127
BKN
119
F
PHI
122
CHA
119
F(OT)
LAL
117
ORL
130
F
ATL
89
IND
97
F
DEN
115
NO
125
F
UTA
98
BOS
86
F
SAC
112
HOU
132
F
TOR
122
CHI
83
F
GS
109
DAL
112
F
OKC
110
PHO
100
F

Nov 17, 2018, 8:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Sacramento

29

30

27

26

112

Houston

36

35

38

23

132

Harden nets 34, Rockets win 4th straight 132-112 over Kings
Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:59 PM

HOUSTON (AP) Houston's offense continues to improve, and the Rockets keep on winning.

James Harden had 34 points and eight assists, and the Rockets used a big first-half run on the way to their fourth straight victory, a 132-112 win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.

Harden, who shot 10 of 17 from the field, had 15 points in the third quarter. Chris Paul added 24 points and nine assists, including 18 points in the first half, as the Rockets built a 71-59 halftime lead.

"Yeah, tonight we did a really good job," Harden said. "Other than our turnovers, I think the pace, guard, offense, defensively how active we were. It's pretty much a complete game."

Clint Capella finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds for Houston, which shot 57 percent from the floor, including 20 of 47 from 3-point range.

Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said the Rockets were able to find the open shooters, and that was orchestrated by Harden and Paul.

"That's Clint being such a presence in the middle that he opens the outside up, and he was open for himself," D'Antoni said. "So it was a good balance."

After starting the season 1-5, Houston has won seven of its last nine games to move above .500 for the first time.

"We're making shots, playing the right pace, and it's our defensive end though," Paul said. "We gave up over 100 tonight, but for the most part, the defense was good."

Buddy Hield shot 10 for 17 and finished with 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the Kings, who have lost three of their last four games.

"This is a tough team to play on the back end of a back-to-back, and they were rested, they were focused, they were locked in and they do it well, they do it really well," Sacramento coach Dave Joerger said. "We tried to give them different looks. We're not at a college or graduate level experience wise in playing pick-and-rolls the way these guys are a scientist at it."

De'Aaron Fox added 19 points, and Marvin Bagley had 16 points off the bench for Sacramento, which shot 45 percent from the field.

"Sometimes we just didn't make shots, although we scored 112 points and should've been able to give ourselves a chance to win," Fox said. "We just have to be able to get stops out there."

Houston used a 20-5 run at the end of the first quarter and start of the second to open a 45-32 lead. Eric Gordon hit consecutive 3-pointers with 10 minutes left in the second and Paul had 12 in the run. Houston's lead grew to 57-41 on a Gary Clark 3-pointer with 5 1/2 left in the first half that capped a 9-0 run.

The Rockets pushed the lead to 98-74 with four minutes left in the third when Harden scored 10 straight points. The Kings got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

TIP-INS

Kings: Bogdan Bogdanovic had 14 points, and Justin Jackson had 10 points off the bench. ... Sacramento shot 11 of 35 from behind the arc. ... Sacramento had 64 points in the paint.

Rockets: The 132 points was a season-high for Houston. ... Gerald Green had 17 points, and Gordon had 11 points off the bench. ... Houston finished 20 of 24 from the free throw line.

BLOCK PARTY

Houston tied a season-high with 10 blocks against the Kings, led by five from Clint Capela. Houston only had 10 or more blocks in a game once last season.

UP NEXT

Kings: Host Oklahoma City on Monday night.

Rockets: Host Detroit on Wednesday night.

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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Leaders

Sacramento PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
B. Hield 23 -23 2 7 1 0
D. Fox 19 -6 3 1 1 0
Houston PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
J. Harden 34 1 8 4 3 0
C. Paul 24 19 9 4 1 0

Team Comparison

SAC HOU
Points For 112 132
Field Goals 46/102-45% 46/81-57%
Three Pointers 11/35-31% 20/47-43%
Free Throws 9/12-75% 20/24-83%
Offensive Rebounds 13 6
Defensive Rebounds 26 35
Rebounds 48 50
Blocks 3 10
Steals 10 9
Turnovers 14 22
Points Scored Off Turnovers 24 17
Points in the Paint 64 50
Fast Break Points 14 17
Personal Fouls 21 20
Technical Fouls 0 0
Flagrant Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - HOU Leads Series 1-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Sat Nov 17 SAC 112 @ HOU 132 B. Hield 23 J. Harden 34

Game Information

Stadium: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 18,055
Game Time: 2:4