The Oklahoma City Thunder lost on the road 118-105 to the Houston Rockets. On a night when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander eclipsed 5,000 career points, the Thunder did not have much more to celebrate.
The Rockets relied on their young stars to grow a big lead and maintain it
The Thunder were playing in their third game in four nights, with the first two going into overtime. Just like OKC, Houston also came into this game on the second night of a back-to-back, looking to put together consecutive victories.
Jalen Green was the big star of this game for the Rockets as he put together one of his best performances of the season. The second-year guard scored 28 points thanks to a season-high six threes and also dished out a career-high nine assists. Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander also had a nice night, going for his 14th 30-point game of the season with 32 points.
Houston jumped out to a quick double-digit lead forcing the Thunder to call an early timeout just three and a half minutes into the game. After an Eric Gordon three at the end of the first quarter, Oklahoma City trailed 23-22 with 13 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder and Rockets spent the first few minutes of the second quarter trading baskets with the margin remaining close. Then, about halfway through the quarter, Houston took a 13-point lead on a quick 9-0 run behind a couple of triples from Garrison Mathews, and another from Jabari Smith Jr. Houston’s run continued after a timeout from Mark Daigneault until an SGA bucket ended the 16-0 run.
The Rockets spent the first half, especially the second quarter, looking like the Rockets from a few seasons ago, shooting 11-19 from beyond the arc. The 42-point second-quarter explosion by the Rockets gave them a 65-44 lead going into halftime. With Gilgeous-Alexander accounting for 18 of the Thunder’s 44 first-half points, the Thunder needed others to step up offensively in the second half to get back in the game.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, the first few minutes of the second half saw little traction for the comeback effort as Houston led by 24 heading to timeout near the halfway mark of the third. Jalen Green continued his excellent night with three makes from outside in the quarter to help him reach 28 points going into the fourth quarter.
OKC managed to chip into the Rockets’ lead and got it down to 16 with six minutes to go. However, the Thunder were unable to get any closer when it mattered, as Houston pulled away in the last few minutes. The Rockets’ hot shooting from three was too difficult for OKC to overcome.
These two teams have some incredibly bright futures and maybe even some playoff matchups in the coming years. The Thunder and Rockets being built around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Green, respectively, make the teams likely to be judged against each other as they go through rebuilds.
The Thunder finish off this two-game road trip in New Orleans on Monday to face the Pelicans for the first time this season before heading back home.