Harden (36) paces Rockets in rout of Kings

With James Harden leading the way in scoring for a 33rd consecutive game, the visiting Houston Rockets turned a second-quarter eruption into a 127-101 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. Harden posted 36 points on 13-of-26 shooting and extended his streak of consecutive 30-plus-point games to 28. He hit 8 of 13 3-point attempts after entering play having shot 31.9 percent from deep over his previous 12 games.

In the first half, Harden was 6 of 7 from beyond the arc while producing 25 points. Gerald Green (25 points) and Eric Gordon (20) helped shoulder the scoring load for Houston, shooting a combined 15 of 31. Green and Gordon went 6 of 13 on 3-point tries in the first half, teaming with Harden to end the suspense early while snapping the Kings' seven-game home winning streak.

Chris Paul (15 points, 11 assists) and Kenneth Faried (13 points, 11 rebounds) added double-doubles for Houston, which closed a four-game road trip with three consecutive victories. Buddy Hield scored 20 points for Sacramento while Bogdan Bogdanovic and Frank Mason added 13 apiece. Nemanja Bjelica paired 15 points with six rebounds, posting nine points and five boards in the first quarter when the Kings hung tough despite committing six turnovers. When their hot shooting cooled off in the second quarter, the Kings were swarmed under.

Sacramento trailed 32-28 entering the second period and was within 40-34 when Marvin Bagley III converted a second-chance opportunity at the 9:50 mark. However, the Kings missed 13 of their next 16 shot attempts while recording five turnovers during that stretch. The Rockets, meanwhile, delivered the knockout blow with a 34-8 blitz. Houston led 74-42 before Hield stroked a 3-pointer with 1:17 left in the half, the Kings' first field goal in more than four minutes.

Houston led by as many as 37 points and enjoyed a 17-0 run in the decisive second quarter. Both Houston and Sacramento executed trades earlier on Wednesday, with the Rockets acquiring Iman Shumpert from the Kings as part of a three-team trade involving the Cleveland Cavaliers that also brought Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin IV to Houston.

The Kings acquired Alec Burks from Cleveland in that deal and later shipped Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph to Dallas for Harrison Barnes. --Field Level Media

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