NBA: Jalen Green, Rockets soar past Thunder
Jalen Green #4 of the Houston Rockets looks on after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center on November 26, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images/AFP
Jalen Green scored a team-high 28 points, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. recorded double-doubles and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-105 on Saturday to sweep both games of a home back-to-back.
After rallying from a 16-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, the Rockets seized control with an 18-2 second-quarter run in cruising past the Thunder. Houston led by as many as 27 points.
Oklahoma City was coming off a home win over the Chicago Bulls in overtime at home on Friday.
Green shot 11 for 19 while adding a team-best nine assists. His dynamic play started early and continued throughout, particularly in the second period, when Houston shot 16 of 20 overall.
Jalen Green added 28 points to go with his career-high 9 assists in the @HoustonRockets home win!
🤘 @JalenGreen: 28 PTS, 9 AST, 6 3PM pic.twitter.com/vzFt0ipVwL
— NBA (@NBA) November 27, 2022
Sengun produced 21 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists, while Smith paired 15 points with 13 rebounds. Kevin Porter Jr. added 16 points and Eric Gordon 15 for the Rockets. Garrison Mathews chipped in 11 off the bench.
The Rockets shot a robust 18 of 36 from behind the arc, with Green leading the way at 6 of 9.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in a game-high 32 points, his 14th 30-point game this season. But the Thunder didn’t produce enough offensively to supplement Gilgeous-Alexander, shooting 39.2 percent overall while missing 34 of 44 3-pointers. Josh Giddey scored 18 points for the Thunder.
After Oklahoma City responded to the Rockets’ 14-4 start with a 9-0 spurt, Houston needed a 3-pointer from Gordon just prior to the first-quarter buzzer to take a 23-22 lead into the second.
Then the Rockets ran away and hid that period, starting with two Mathews 3s and another from Smith in transition that extended their lead to 49-29 midway through the quarter.
Six Rockets players scored during the aforementioned 18-2 blitz, with Mathews, Smith and Porter all drilling 3-pointers. The Rockets led 65-44 at the intermission on the strength of their perimeter shooting, going 11 of 19 from deep.
Houston shot 64.1 percent in the first half, boosted by a 42-point second period that featured 7-of-11 3-point shooting.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 18 points at the break, but his teammates hit only 11 of 34 field goals.
