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Harden, Rockets down Kings

Apr 15, 2013 - 2:30 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - James Harden scored 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field and dished out nine helpers as Houston crushed the Sacramento Kings, 121-100, on Sunday in the team's regular season home finale.

Jeremy Lin poured in 11 points during a decisive third quarter and finished with 15 for the Rockets, who bounced back from a home loss versus Memphis on Friday to win for the second time in their last three games.

Carlos Delfino had 14 points, Omer Asik recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Chandler Parsons returned from a four-game absence due to strained calf muscle to donate 13 points and five assists in the victory.

"I saw a lot of good stuff out there today," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "It was good to see Chandler out there tonight and I thought Carlos did some good things as well. This year is a year where we were building a lot of stuff. We just keep building and building."

Houston now holds the sixth spot in the Western Conference and shares the same record as Golden State, but owns the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series 3-1.

Travis Outlaw led Sacramento with 15 points and Cole Aldrich added 12 points and 12 boards for the Kings, who have lost three straight and six of their last seven.

Following a strong ending to the first half, the hosts broke open the game in start the second half.

Lin kicked off a 19-10 spurt with a triple and Greg Smith had a highlight alley-oop as Houston's lead expanded to 27 points, 81-54, around the midway point of the third.

Sacramento got as close as 18 points with less than a minute to play before the quarter ended and trailed 76-94 heading into the fourth.

The Rockets sat all of their team's starters in the final quarter and never looked back as the reserves helped the team cruise to the victory.

"On the road you have to come out fast and even," Sacramento coach Keith Smart said. "One thing this group has done, is that we take the thumps and get hit on the chin. This group all year long has been able to put the last game behind and move on."

Trailing by 15 early in the second, the Kings went on a 14-2 flurry to close the deficit to three with 4:23 left in the first half. Houston, however, returned the favor to close stanza on a 17-2 run as Delfino's triple capped the spurt and made it 62-44 at the break.

Houston added to its nine-point edge after one quarter with a 10-4 swing at the start of the second to make it 43-28.

Harden came out firing in the first quarter, shooting 6-of-7 from the floor and accounting for 15 points. The Rockets led 33-24 after one.

Game Notes

Houston improved to 29-12 at home this season ... Houston finishes the regular season with road tilts versus Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers... Harden became first Rockets player since Hakeem Olajuwon (1995-96) to average 26-plus points per game at home ... The Kings have lost 10 of 12 road games in the series ... John Salmons scored 14 points and Isaiah Thomas scored 10 points to go along with 10 helpers for Sacramento.