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01/15 21:11 CST Thunder surge in fourth quarter to defeat Rockets 111-91
Thunder surge in fourth quarter to defeat Rockets 111-91
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) --- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points, Chet Holmgren added
18 and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the
Houston Rockets 111-91 on Thursday night.
Cason Wallace added 17 off the bench and the NBA-leading Thunder outscored
Houston 34-16 in the final quarter to get a fifth straight victory.
Kevin Durant led Houston with 19 points, but he was 0 for 5 on 3-pointers and 7
for 23 overall on a night the Rockets made just 7 of 24 behind the arc.
The Thunder led by two early in the fourth quarter before using an 11-2 run,
with a 3-pointer from Ajay Mitchell and two from Wallace, to make it 90-79 with
less than nine minutes to go.
Oklahoma City remained up by nine later in the fourth when Mitchell hit another
3-pointer to start a 7-0 run that made it 99-83 with about four minutes
remaining. Jaylin Williams capped that scoring spurt with a two-handed dunk and
Houston coach Ime Udoka called a timeout as many fans began streaming toward
the exits.
Udoka was given a technical foul for barking at officials during the timeout
and the Thunder continued their run after it, extending it to 14-0.
Gilgeous-Alexander made the technical free throw before adding three more in
the next couple of minutes and a 3 by Kenrich Williams made it 106-83 with 2
minutes left.
By the time Reed Sheppard made a 3-pointer a few seconds after that, the
Rockets had gone more than five minutes without scoring.
It's the second meeting between these teams this season after Oklahoma City got
a 125-124 double-overtime victory in the season opener for both teams.
The Rockets outrebounded Oklahoma City 60-44, but were done in by their poor
shooting. They shot just 33.7% to 46.1% by the Thunder and Oklahoma City made
16 of 41 3-pointers.
Up next Thunder: Visit Miami on Saturday night. Rockets: Host Minnesota on Friday night. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA |
