Amen Thompson tied a season high with 28 points, Aaron Holiday had a season-high 22 points and tied a career-high six 3-pointers, and the Houston Rockets ran past the host Phoenix Suns 114-92 on Monday.
Alperen Sengun had 18 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 17 points for the Rockets, who have won 11 of 13 and played their first game without Kevin Durant.
Dillon Brooks had 29 points, Devin Booker had 18 points and Collin Gillespie had 16 points for the Suns, who had a three-game winning streak broken and were held under 100 for the first time this season.
The Rockets never trailed after going on a 12-2 run in the late first and early second quarter for a 36-25 lead. Holiday had three threes in the first quarter. The Suns’ largest lead was two.
Houston turned a five-point possession into a 67-55 lead in the third quarter, when Booker was called for a flagrant foul on Thompson’s layup. Thompson hit a free throw and Sengun tipped in his own miss.
Smith’s trey midway through the fourth quarter pushed the Rockets’ lead to 98-84, and Thompson’s 3-pointer with 4:37 left put the game out of reach at 104-85.
Thompson tied a season high with eight assists and had seven rebounds.
Thompson’s fast-break layup capped an 8-0 run to put the Rockets up 92-78 lead with 9:27 left. Thompson left the game with 7:31 remaining when he was struck by an elbow on a Nick Richards drive, but he returned four minutes later.
Both teams were without key pieces. Durant missed the game to attend to a family matter, and he is expected to miss the NBA Cup game at Golden State on Wednesday.
Suns center Mark Williams (right knee management) did not play in the second game of a back-to-back. Grayson Allen (quad) missed his fifth straight game and Ryan Dunn (wrist) missed his second.
The Rockets had a 41-39 rebounding edge and scored 26 points off 21 Suns’ turnovers. Houston led the league in rebounds.
Houston shot 48.9 percent, when Thompson made 10 of 16 from the floor and Sengun made 8 of 14.
The Suns shot 41.2 percent. Each team made 13 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
