Houston shoot the lights out
Houston did not need long to answer Friday’s loss in Dallas. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 30 points with nine rebounds and five assists, hitting six of his 12 threes, and the Rockets beat Oklahoma City 119-98 on Saturday night. It was a rout by the middle of the third quarter.
Marcus Smart started in place of the resting Fred VanVleet and scored 24 on 7-of-10 shooting from deep, 12 of them in the first quarter. Alperen Sengun filled the stat sheet with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. As a team Houston went 18 of 41 from three, almost 44 percent.
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A Thunder side stripped of three starters
Oklahoma City arrived without Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, all out long term, and it showed. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 26 points, and Kevin Durant had 14. Kenrich Williams chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds, while Jared McCain and Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 10 each.
The visitors did make Houston sweat for a stretch. Gilgeous-Alexander cut a 21-point deficit to 13 in the third quarter, but the Rockets led 92-75 going into the fourth. Smith’s jumper and a three then pushed it to 103-81 with 8:39 left, and the game was done. Houston had led by as many as 27 and held a 62-51 edge at the break.
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