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Jabari Smith Jr scores 30 as Rockets rout injury-hit Thunder 119-98
Houston led by as many as 27 at the Toyota Center on Saturday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made 26 for an Oklahoma City side missing six players.
Key points
- The Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-98 on Saturday night.
- Jabari Smith Jr made 30 points with six threes, and Marcus Smart added 24.
- The Thunder, without six injured players, fell to 4-2 despite 26 from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Houston Rockets brushed aside a short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, winning 119-98 at the Toyota Center a day after their first defeat of the season.
Jabari Smith Jr led the way with 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists, making six of his 12 three-point attempts. Marcus Smart, starting in place of the rested Fred VanVleet, scored 24 and hit seven of his 10 threes, 12 of his points coming in a fast first quarter.
Houston were 35-26 up after one quarter, helped by 10 of 11 free throws, and led 62-51 at half-time. Alperen Sengun came close to a triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Kevin Durant scored 14, 10 of them in the opening quarter. The Rockets made 18 of 41 threes and at one stage led by 27.
A thin Thunder side
Oklahoma City were missing Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber, all injured. A 10-0 run in the second quarter kept them in touch for a while, and two straight threes from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the third cut a 21-point gap to 83-70.
That was as close as it got. Houston went into the final quarter 92-75 ahead, and Smith’s pull-up jumper and another three made it 103-81 with 8:39 left. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26, Kenrich Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds, and Jared McCain and Isaiah Hartenstein had 10 each.
The defeat leaves the Thunder at 4-2 for the season, while the Rockets bounced back from Friday’s road loss to the Dallas Mavericks.