Thunder center Moses Brown, middle, reaches for a rebound between, from left, Houston Rockets guard Victor Oladipo (7) center Christian Wood (35), forward Danuel House Jr. (4) and guard John Wall (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 21, 2021, in Houston. Mandatory Credit: Michael Wyke/Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort scored 23 points and came up with a “heroic” late block on Houston’s John Wall Sunday as the Thunder handed the Rockets their 20th straight NBA defeat, 114-112.
The Thunder led by one when Dort missed a three-point attempt and the Rockets snagged the rebound with 15.8 seconds remaining.
Wall drove past Dort to the rim, but Dort managed to swat the ball cleanly away from behind, denying Wall’s layup with nine seconds remaining.
“Honestly that was a heroic play,” Thunder center Moses Brown said. “I’ve never seen anything like it and it was so clutch.”
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Lu acknowledged that Wall “kind of beat me, so I just had to recover and not give up on that play.”
There was no time to celebrate however, Wall getting one more chance but bouncing a three-point attempt off the rim with less than two seconds remaining.
In the absence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Al Horford, Dort led the Thunder against the reeling Rockets, whose 20-game skid is now three games longer than their previous worst losing streak.
Center Christian Wood led Houston with 27 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Wall, in his second game back from a five-game injury absence, added 24 points and seven assists.