Strong fourth quarter propels Thunder past Rockets
Chet Holmgren tallied 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, while Ajay Mitchell tallied 17 points off the bench as the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to five with a 111-91 road victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
After needing double overtime to subdue the Rockets in the teams' season opener Oct. 21, the Thunder seized control early in the fourth quarter with their 3-point proficiency.
Leading 77-75 entering the fourth, the Thunder received 3s from Mitchell and Cason Wallace, who drilled a pair over consecutive possessions to push their lead to 88-79. Following a Houston timeout, Kenrich Williams nailed a pull-up jumper to give the Thunder their first double-digit lead at 90-79 with 9:04 to play.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 20 points to extend his streak of consecutive 20-plus games to 111. Holmgren and Mitchell combined to shoot 14 for 19, including 5 of 7 from deep.
Luguentz Dort added 13 points and three 3-pointers for the Thunder, who shot 16 for 41 from behind the arc. Conversely, the Rockets missed 17 of 24 3-pointers to end their seven-game home winning streak.
Kevin Durant paced the Rockets with 19 points, but he shot just 7 for 23. Jabari Smith Jr. added 17 points and 10 rebounds while Alperen Sengun also posted a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. Smith and Sengun shot a combined 12 for 30.
Holmgren was the early linchpin for the Thunder, tallying 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting and three rebounds in the opening frame. Defensively, the Thunder were in sync, limiting the Rockets to 28.6% shooting in the first quarter to carve out a 21-19 lead entering the second.
The Rockets found more success offensively in the second, but not enough to overtake the Thunder. Houston had three shots blocked during one extended possession, and after Durant sank a pair of free throws to pull the Rockets even at 36-all, Gilgeous-Alexander responded with a three-point play, a spinning layup, and an assist on a Dort 3-pointer that yielded a 47-38 lead.
When Gilgeous-Alexander beat the halftime buzzer with a 3, the Thunder led 55-48 at the break. Gilgeous-Alexander posted 10 points in the second quarter to keep the Thunder rolling.