SACRAMENTO, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- James Harden scored a season-high 43 points in three quarters Tuesday and the Houston Rockets blasted the Sacramento Kings 129-103.
Harden scored 15 of his points from the free-throw line and had 18 to his credit by the time the first quarter ended and sat out the fourth quarter of the Rockets' 10th win in their last 11 games.
Dwight Howard fleshed out the Houston attack with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Terrance Jones added 11 points and Chandler Parsons scored 10.
Rudy Gay led the Kings with 25 points and six assists. DeMarcus Cousins had 16 points.
Houston sped off to a 42-17 lead after one quarter. The Californians rallied in the second with 34 points, but Houston shot 56.9 percent from the field over the course of the game and kept the Kings at bay.
