National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 115, Sacramento 111
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Officials: #59 Gary Zielinski, #24 Mike Callahan, #54 Nick Buchert
Attendance: 18312

Rockets 115, Kings 111: James Harden poured in a career-high 51 points while tying his career best with eight 3-pointers as host Houston held off Sacramento.

Harden went 16-of-25 from the field and 11-of-13 from the foul line to become the first player in Rockets history with two 50-point games in a season as Houston won for the eighth time in 10 games and pulled even with Memphis for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Trevor Ariza scored 22 points and Terrence Jones added 16 and a career-high seven blocks for the Rockets, who were without center Dwight Howard (knee).

DeMarcus Cousins collected 24 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists and six blocks for the Kings, who have lost three straight following a four-game winning streak. Jason Thompson tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds and Omri Casspi scored 18 points as Sacramento put up 72 points in the paint.

Harden scored 17 of Houston's 39 third-quarter points as the Rockets went 14-of-22 from the field in the period to go up by 15 before settling for a 97-86 advantage entering the fourth. The Kings trimmed it to 104-102 on Casspi's basket with 5:50 to play, but Harden answered with eight straight points and Houston held on.

The Rockets opened a double-digit lead less than five minutes into the game and were up 35-25 after one quarter behind 16 points from Harden. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Ariza pushed the margin to 46-27, but the Kings surged back within one before Harden's bucket made it 58-55 at the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Houston improved to 23-2 when scoring at least 110 points while Sacramento dropped to 2-24 when allowing 110 or more. … The Rockets were 18-of-40 from 3-point range, adding to their NBA records for games with at least 10 triples (53) and at least 15 3-pointers (16) this season. … Houston has made 865 3-pointers this season and needs 27 to break the NBA mark set by the New York Knicks in 2012-13.

Top Game Performances
 
Sacramento   Houston
DeMarcus Cousins 24 Scoring James Harden 51
DeMarcus Cousins 10 Assists Pablo Prigioni 7
DeMarcus Cousins 21 Rebounds Joey Dorsey 11
Omri Casspi 2 Free Throws Made James Harden 11
Omri Casspi 3 Steals Pablo Prigioni 4
DeMarcus Cousins 6 Blocks Terrence Jones 7
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Sacramento 111 50.0 7-14 8-16 30 57 9 9 21
Houston 115 46.1 18-40 15-25 24 42 13 14 17
Upcoming Games
  • Houston will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Rockets have a W/L % of .647 after a win and .750 after a loss.
  • Sacramento will play their next game at home against New Orleans. The Kings have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .362 after a loss.