HOUSTON -- After a first half that amounted to a glorified scrimmage for the red-hot Houston Rockets against their overmatched and short-handed opponent, the 24 minutes after intermission devolved into garbage time with two primary purposes.

Guard James Harden matched the franchise record for career triple-doubles as the Houston Rockets blitzed the Sacramento Kings 132-98 on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

The Rockets (19-7) won their eighth consecutive game and flirted with the NBA record for 3-pointers, hitting 22 of 42 in a game in which they led by as many as 39 points.

Houston was scorching from deep at the opening tip, burying seven treys in the first quarter and extending its league record for consecutive games with at least 10 3-pointers with 7:13 left in the second quarter on a trey from reserve Sam Dekker.

Harden had 15 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds for his 14th career triple-double, matching the mark set by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. He needed only 30 minutes to post his fifth triple-double of the season.

The Rockets produced a season-high 40 assists on 50 field goals, their most since 44 assists against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 25, 1995.

"Extremely unselfish," Harden said. "Guys have shot opportunities they shoot them, if you don't they create for somebody else. We've been doing it all year and it's been working. Everybody is getting shots, everybody is scoring the basketball. Everybody is happy."

Forward Ryan Anderson led all five Houston starters in double figures with 22 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. Forward Trevor Ariza had 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and Dekker, a second-year forward, had a career-high 19 points.

The Kings (9-16) lost for the sixth time in eight games and played without center DeMarcus Cousins (rest), forward Rudy Gay (hip) and guard Ben McLemore (quad). Four starters scored in double figures, paced by guard Garrett Temple, who had 20 points and was 5 of 9 from long range. Sacramento finished 11 of 32 on 30-pointers.

"We still have to play hard throughout the season," Kings guard Matt Barnes said. "People are going to be short-handed and that's going to give other guys opportunity to step up and try to get a rhythm. They got off to a hot start and had all the confidence in the world and never really slowed down."

The Rockets were shooting 61.3 percent from the field by the close of the third quarter, including 58.1 percent on 3s, while carrying a 102-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

Houston was 13 of 20 from the field in building an 11-point lead entering the second quarter and closed the first half shooting an identical 12 of 19 from inside the arc and behind it.

"Certainly they shot well," Kings coach Dave Joerger said of the Rockets. "They were shooting 65 percent from 3 for most of the night, and once they got ahead of us they became free and easy."

The second half amounted to a pursuit of individual and league records, with Harden going for rebounds with reckless abandon before securing his 10th on a missed free throw by Kings forward Omri Casspi with 3:10 left in the third quarter.

Rookie forward Kyle Wiltjer sank two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the second with 3:55 remaining, to close the Rockets within one of matching the NBA record of 23. From that point until the final buzzer, Houston hoisted just one more trey, a corner 3 from K.J. McDaniels, while attempting six shots inside the arc.

"James' mom kept yelling at me. She was laughing at us and kept saying, 'You need two more for the record,'" Dekker said. "I didn't pay too much mind to it. We got out of there with a win and with the way we shoot the ball, I think we'll get close again."

NOTES: Kings C DeMarcus Cousins was given the night off to rest. He shad tarted all 24 games for Sacramento this season and entered Wednesday leading the team in scoring (28.3 points), rebounding (10.9), and blocks (1.5) while ranking fourth in assists (3.6). Kings coach Dave Joerger opted to rest Cousins so that he could enjoy a three-day break between games Monday (a home win over the Lakers) and Friday in Memphis. ... Through their first seven games of this month, the Rockets were ranked second in the NBA in pace at 103.1 possessions per 48 minutes. Houston ranked 13th in pace (99.2) in November and coach Mike D'Antoni attributed the improvement to superior defense and the stabilized play of his second unit. ... Kings F Rudy Gay and G Ben McLemore were injured Monday against the Lakers.