Already opposed Monday in Houston, with a victory for OKC, Rockets and Thunder met again last night in Oklahoma City to do it again. Behind a good Alperen Sengun who got the better of Chet Holmgren, Houston started their match well and held off one of the leaders of the Western Conference. But the SGA – Giddey duo combined for 19 of their team’s 28 points to stay in touch (29-28).
Despite the awakening of Holmgren who hits from afar and slams a dunk, or Jalen Williams (11 points in the period) who delivers a nice duel from a distance with Jabari Smith Jr, the Rockets continue to be in the lead, with a good participation from their bench, including the former Jeff Green who passed (a long time ago) to OKC. But the Thunder manages to pull away at the end of the half, with SGA hitting the mark from afar (60-50).
SGA takes care of everything
The Thunder picks up again after returning from the locker room, like this reversed alley oop concluded by Holmgren, despite the foul. But Sengun soon takes revenge with a huge two-handed dunk in traffic, with the fault too! The two young pivots, and these two young teams in general, are doing well but OKC remains in front, with Giddey pushing the leather on the fast play and SGA hitting an impossible shot at the end of the possession (84-74).
J-Dub and Giddey perfectly launch the “serene victory” operation in the last quarter, widening the gap further, the second feeding the first with a superb pass for the resounding one-handed dunk! A little later, it was Holmgren who sent veteran Gordon Hayward to the alley oop! The local public exults and mass is (almost) said six minutes from the end. Green places a final dunk but Houston has to lose again against the Thunder (112-95).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– A sixth victory in a row for OKC. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's squad (31 points, 8 rebounds) certainly took a little time to warm up in the first half, but once they found their cruising speed, the Thunder never looked back. Perfectly supported by its very promising “Big Three”, including 24 points for Jalen Williams and a double double for Holmgren (18 points, 13 rebounds), OKC remains at the top of the West, tied with the Wolves, at 41 victories for 17 defeats.
– A match without for FVV. Recruited to bring his experience and his long-range shooting to the young Rockets squad, Fred VanVleet has essentially succeeded in his mission this season. But that was not the case this night with a cross match, completed with only 5 points and 5 assists, a small 2/11 on shots including an ugly 1/7 from distance.
– The Rockets losing momentum. Already not in great shape before the All-Star Game was cut off, with five defeats in seven games at the start of February, the Rockets have three losses in four games since the restart. Currently in twelfth place in the Western Conference, Houston is losing ground on the Warriors and the Lakers in the race for play-in.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
