Tari Eason scored a season-high 26 points and Alperen Sengun recorded a triple-double to help the Houston Rockets to a 112-106 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Rockets, while the Thunder have dropped back-to-back contests.
With Houston leading by four after Eason’s tip-in with 1:36 remaining, Reed Sheppard reached around Chet Holmgren under the basket to steal Alex Caruso’s pass, and Kevin Durant hit a key pullup jumper.
Eason added a pair of key offensive rebounds over the final two minutes to help the Rockets hold off Oklahoma City.
Sengun, who had been shooting just 35.2% over his last six games, finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Jabari Smith Jr. added 22 points and Kevin Durant had 20 points on a season-low 10 shots.
After trailing by 15 in the first half, the Rockets came back to tie it early in the third quarter before a 7-0 run put the Thunder back in front.
Houston went on a 24-11 run over the final 7:40 of the quarter to take the lead.
Oklahoma City didn’t hit a field goal over the final five minutes of the quarter.
The Rockets led by nine early in the fourth, but the Thunder battled back thanks to seven consecutive Cason Wallace points.
Oklahoma City tied it on Isaiah Joe’s steal and reverse layup with 7:02 remaining.
Wallace led the Thunder, who were playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the second consecutive game, with 23 points.
Joe added 21 off the bench.
The Thunder jumped out to a big lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Rockets 21-6 over the first eight minutes of the quarter to take a 49-34 lead.
After the Rockets hit their first four 3-pointers to start the game, they made just one of their next 12.
Houston was just 2 for 10 from the field to start the second.
But the Rockets trimmed the deficit to six by halftime and nearly cut it even further as Eason’s 33-footer narrowly missed going in at the buzzer.
Jared McCain, acquired in a trade with Philadelphia at the deadline, made his Oklahoma City debut, finishing with five points in nearly 14 minutes.
–Field Level Media
