Rockets score season-high in 132-112 win over Kings

Posted: November 17, 2018 -- 11:59 p.m.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets' offense is shifting into high gear. Saturday night's 132-112 win over the Sacramento Kings is a perfect example of the Rockets' high-powered offense working like last season. The 132 points is the most points the Rockets have scored thus far this season.

Tonight's 132 points is the 18th time Houston has scored 130+ points in the Mike D'Antoni era (18-0 mark). Over a 25-season span from 1991-92 through 2015-16, the Rockets scored 130+ points 18 times.

Houston's offense (8-7) set the tone with a season-high 36 points in the first quarter. The Rockets led 36-29 after 12 minutes. Chris Paul closed out the 1st quarter scoring with a triple in front of Justin Jackson. Paul scored 12 pts (3/4 fgs threes, 3/4 free throws) in the first quarter.

Houston won the second quarter 35-30 and led 71-59 at halftime. Chris Paul scored a game-high 18 points in the opening half. Clint Capela scored 14 points; and, James Harden scored 13 in the first half. The Kings were led by De'Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic who each scored 14 points.

The Rockets maintained control in the third quarter outscoring the Kings 38-27 to lead 109-86 after three quarters.

The Kings (8-8) did not get closer than 15 points (115-100) in the final 12 minutes of the ball game.

James Harden scored a game-high 34 points in 34 minutes of play tonight.

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

Houston finished the game with 22 turnovers -- 18 in the second half.

"Except for the 18 turnovers the second half, 22 altogether," Head Coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game. "It's better. It’s much better. We're making shots. Gerald (Green), you know, welcome back Gerald. That's good. We got to get Eric (Gordon) rolling a little bit. Everybody else is doing what they're capable of."

Clint Capela had 23 points, 16 rebounds and a season-high 5 blocks. The last Rocket who was 24 or younger to had at least 20 points, 15 boards and 5 blocks in a single game was Yao Ming (27/22/5) at Phoenix on 3/11/05. Capela has been much more active and impactful the last few games.

"Just by being aggressive; energy," Capela said. "Tonight, it appears that we had a lot of pick-and-rolls so it was a good night for me."

Chris Paul finished the game with 24 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 8 turnovers. Over the past four games, Paul is averaging 20.3 points on 59.1% shooting after averaging 10.7 points per game on 33.3% shooting the four games prior.

"Yeah, minus all the turnovers tonight," Paul acknowledged. "We're making shots, playing the right pace, it's our defensive end though, we gave up over 100 tonight, but for the most part, the defense was good."

Houston has won a season-high four in a row and is above .500 for the first time this season. Sacramento has lost five of its past seven after starting the season 6-3.

The Rockets' next game is Wednesday, November 21, at home, versus the Detroit Pistons. Game time is 7 p.m.

Houston won by 20 points tonight after defeating Golden State by 21 points, two days ago, on November 15. The last time the Rockets won by 20 plus points in consecutive games was November 29 - December 3, 2017.

NOTES:

The Rockets had a season-high tying 10 blocks tonight. Houston only had 10 plus blocks once all of last season. Dating back to last season, the Rockets are 19-3 when having 7 or more blocks.

Gerald Green led all reserves with 17 points in 13:40 minutes of play while shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point range. It's the eighth time a player has hit at least 5 three-point shots in fewer than 14 minutes played in NBA history (last was Jake Layman for Portland vs. Golden State on November 1, 2016).

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