HOUSTON (AP) - Jalen Green had 34 points, Alperen Sengun added 31 and the Houston Rockets snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder's 11-game winning streak with a 125-111 victory Friday night.
Houston, which is second in the Western Conference, improved to 2-3 against the top-seeded Thunder with the win
. Oklahoma City lost for the first time since March 10.
The Rockets led by 23 in the first half but the Thunder got within nine on a shot by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with about 7 ½ minutes to go. Green scored five points in a 7-2 run to make it 113-99 midway through the quarter and Oklahoma City didn’t get within single digits again.
Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 33 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 to reach 20 points for the 70th straight game, moving past Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NBA history.
The Rockets were up by 12 in the third when they used a 10-2 spurt to extend the lead to 93-73 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. But Gilgeous-Alexander scored eight points in a 12-3 run to end the quarter and cut the lead to 96-85 entering the fourth.
Thunder: Chet Holmgren, who had 20 points, made a career-high six 3-pointers after going 1 of 11 combined from long range in his last three games.
Rockets: Houston got the win despite missing perhaps its best defender with Dillon Brooks serving a one-game suspension after receiving his 16th technical foul Wednesday night.
Houston’s run in the fourth after the Thunder cut the lead to nine, which was capped by a 3 from Green.
Houston outrebounded Oklahoma City 48-33.
Houston visits Golden State on Sunday night and the Thunder play the first of consecutive games against the Lakers on Sunday.
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