One night after the 116-111 loss in Dallas, the Houston Rockets came home and handled their business. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points, Marcus Smart made 7 of his 10 three-point attempts, and Houston beat a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder team 119-98 on Halloween night at Toyota Center.
Alperen Sengun returned from a two-game absence with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Rockets led for 93% of the game on the second night of a back-to-back. Houston improves to 6-1 and 3-0 at home, while Oklahoma City falls to 4-2.
Smart Sets the Tone Early
The first few minutes were chippy. Smart and Smith were both whistled for technical fouls in the first four minutes of the game, and the Thunder jumped out to a 4-0 lead, which turned out to be their biggest of the night.
Smart made sure it didn’t last. He hit three threes and three free throws in the first quarter for 12 points, and Kevin Durant added 10 as Houston took a 35-26 lead after one, per the ESPN play-by-play. A 31-foot fadeaway three from Smart early in the second quarter pushed the lead to 43-32, and Sengun’s driving dunk off a Smart feed made it 53-34 midway through the period.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept Oklahoma City within reach with 18 first-half points, and the Thunder cut a 21-point deficit to 62-51 by halftime.
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Jabari Takes Over in the Second Half
Smith made sure the Thunder never got closer. He hit a 25-foot three early in the third quarter for a 70-51 lead, then hit two more from deep in a span of under two minutes, both set up by Durant and Clint Capela, to keep Oklahoma City at arm’s length. Tari Eason added a driving dunk and a three late in the quarter, and Houston took a 92-75 lead into the fourth.
The fourth quarter is where it got out of hand. Houston opened it on a 16-6 run that included a three from Isaiah Crawford, a Bogdan Bogdanovic pull-up, a jumper, a 28-foot three and two free throws from Smith, and a Smart three off a Sengun pass that made it 108-81 with 7:46 left. That 27-point lead was the Rockets’ biggest of the night, and the starters spent most of the final minutes on the bench. Bruce Thornton closed the scoring with a 26-foot three in the final 30 seconds.
The Numbers Behind It
Houston shot 18-of-41 (44%) from three and finished with 29 assists against 10 turnovers, per the NBA.com box score. After a rough night at the line in Dallas, the Rockets went 19-of-23 on free throws, and Durant was a perfect 6-of-6. Smith was a game-best plus-33 in 33 minutes.
Oklahoma City shot 37-of-85 from the field and 10-of-32 from three. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting, but no other Thunder player scored more than 11. The Thunder were without Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber.
Who was the Rockets' best player against the Thunder?
Box Score Leaders
- Jabari Smith Jr.: 30 points (10-18 FG, 6-12 3PT), 9 rebounds, 5 assists
- Marcus Smart: 24 points (7-10 3PT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists
- Alperen Sengun: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists
- Kevin Durant: 14 points (6-6 FT), 4 assists, 3 blocks
- Isaiah Crawford: 8 points (2-5 3PT) off the bench
- Tari Eason: 8 points, 2 blocks
- Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 26 points (10-20 FG); Kenrich Williams 11 points, 7 rebounds; Bennett Stirtz 11 points
Injury Notes
- Fred VanVleet (Rockets): Out, right knee injury management. He played Friday in Dallas and sat the second night of the back-to-back.
- Reed Sheppard (Rockets): Out, low back soreness. Second straight game missed.
- Steven Adams (Rockets): Out, right calf (soleus) strain.
- Alperen Sengun (Rockets): Returned after missing two games with low back soreness.
- Thunder: Jalen Williams (left ankle surgery), Chet Holmgren (right knee patellar tendinitis), Alex Caruso (right ankle sprain), Cason Wallace (left shoulder labral tear), Nikola Topic (low back surgery) and Thomas Sorber (right knee surgery) were all out.
Up Next
The Rockets stay home to host the Boston Celtics on Monday, Nov. 2, and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, Nov. 4. This was the first of three meetings with Oklahoma City this season; the teams play again Dec. 27 in Houston and Jan. 13 in Oklahoma City. For the pregame storylines, see our preview.
Stats via ESPN and NBA.com. Injury statuses via the NBA’s official injury report.
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