Houston Rockets hold off Oklahoma City Thunder
Houston Rockets held off a late fourth-quarter rally from the Oklahoma City Thunder to escape with a 99-98 hard-earned win on Sunday 28 November at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Kevin Martin spearheaded the Rockets’ surge with his 23 points on 9-for-21 shooting from the field, while Shane Battier added 18 points on 4-for-6 shooting from beyond-the-arc, helping Houston
snap the Thunder’s five game winning run on the road.
“It's just a great win,” Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said. “It was a very good team we played. They were going to attack and keep coming at us but we did enough to win and that is what
we wanted. We wanted our guys to play hard for 48 minutes and that's what they did.”
Kyle Lowry also had an outstanding night, tallying 14 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, while Luis Scola and Jordan Hill added 13 and 12 points, respectively, with both of them adding
seven rebounds for the Rockets, who avoided another fourth-quarter collapse to bag their fifth win of the season.
“We knew it was going to come down to the wire just the way it was going,” said Martin. “In the third quarter, they would make a run, then we would make a run, so that's what we've been practicing
and I'm just glad it paid off tonight.”
With the Rockets up by six points, 77-71, heading into the final period, the Thunder managed to pull within two points, 86-84, in the 6:28 mark of the game, but the Rockets answered with
a 7-0 run to extend their lead to nine points. Oklahoma City refused to give up and they trimmed the lead down to one point, 99-98, with only 29.9 seconds left in the game.
Houston failed to convert a shot in the ensuing possession, giving the Thunder a chance to win the game, but Kevin Durant missed a potential game-winning jumper to absorb their sixth defeat
of the season.
“We battled back and no one on our team gave up and we had a shot to win,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said. “Kevin's shot was on line but just a little short. We had a chance to win
down the stretch.”
Russell Westbrook paced the Thunder with his 23 points and 10 assists, while Durant added 18 points and the NBA leading scorer admitted after the game that he was frustrated with his missed
potential game-winner.
“It felt great when it left my hand,” said Durant. “It's very frustrating. It's tough for me that it came up short. I have only had one game winning shot in four years in this league. Every
one of my shots felt good. It was just one of those nights.”
The Thunder dropped their 11th-straight game at the Toyota Center since an 87-85 win on 22 February 2005.
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