Jabari Smith Jr. scores 30 points, Rockets beat Thunder 119-98

HOUSTON (AP) — Jabari Smith Jr. had 30 points and nine rebounds, Marcus Smart added 24 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-98 on Saturday night.

Smith shot 10 of 18 from the field, including 6 of 12 on 3-pointers. Smart was 7 of 10 on 3s as the Rockets shot 46% as a team and were 18 of 41 from behind the arc.

Alperen Sengun, who returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with lower back soreness, finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, and Kevin Durant scored 14 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting, and Kenrich Williams and Bennett Stirtz scored 11 apiece for Oklahoma City, which lost its second straight after beginning the season 4-0.

Isaiah Hartenstein and Jared McCain had 10 points each for the Thunder, which shot 44% and were 10 of 32 on 3s.

Leading 37-30 a minute into the second quarter, the Rockets used an 18-4 run to open up a 55-34 lead on an Amen Thompson tip-in with 6:10 remaining in the half. Oklahoma City outscored Houston 17-8 over the final six minutes to cut the Rockets’ lead to 62-51 at the half.

The Rockets opened the third with an 8-0 run to open up a 19-point lead on a 3-pointer by Smith with 10 minutes remaining in the quarter Houston’s lead never dipped below 12 the rest of the way.

Fred VanVleet was out of the lineup due to right knee injury management, and Reed Sheppard missed his second straight game with low back soreness for the Rockets.

The Thunder played their first game after announcing Friday that Chet Holmgren would miss at least two months because of a right knee injury.

Up next

Thunder: At Cleveland on Monday night.

Rockets: Host Boston on Monday night.

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