ROCKETS WIN!
Alperen Sengun powers Rockets past Jazz with 33-point night
Mar 28, 2025, 1:35 pm
The Rockets beat the Jazz 121-110. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Alperen Sengun had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Amen Thompson finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 121-110 on Thursday night.
The Rockets have a two-game lead over the third-place Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings with a little more than two weeks left in the regular season.
Jalen Green added 21 points and Tari Eason scored 15 for Houston.
Collin Sexton led Utah with 21 points. Keyonte George scored 17, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski had 16 apiece and Brice Sensabaugh added 15.
Takeaways
Rockets: The game began an eight-game stretch for the Rockets that includes only two home contests as they seek to hold off the Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis for the Western Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed.
Jazz: While Utah lost for the 14th time in 15 games, Collier has provided some reason for hope by scoring well above his season average lately. Two nights after scoring 21 points against Memphis, Collier had 16 more while shooting 7 of 12.
Key moment
After Sexton sank a 3-pointer to cut the Rockets’ lead to 105-102 with 3:36 left, Thompson scored 18 seconds later to spark a 6-0 run that gave the Rockets some breathing room.
Key stat
Houston outrebounded Utah 58-40 — 18-3 on the offensive glass — and had a 30-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Up next
The Rockets play the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday. The Jazz kick off a five-game road trip Friday when the play the Denver Nuggets.
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Yainer Diaz homered, Josh Hader got the last four outs for his major league-leading 25th save, and the Houston Astros spoiled Shohei Ohtani's 31st birthday, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-4 on Saturday.
Ohtani made his fourth mound start of the season, pitching two scoreless innings as he continues to work his way back from elbow surgery. He struck out the side in the second.
Justin Wrobleski (4-3) relieved Ohtani to start the third, and that's when the Dodgers' problems started. Zack Short hit a two-run double as Houston scored four times in the inning. Diaz went deep leading off the fourth, his 11th of the season.
Mookie Betts hit his 11th homer for the Dodgers in the first, and Miguel Rojas' two-run shot in the fourth pulled LA within 5-4.
Jose Altuve led off the seventh with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Hader entered with two on and two out in the eighth and struck out pinch-hitter Esteury Ruiz. In the ninth, he allowed a leadoff single to Ohtani but retired Betts, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman to end it.
Framber Valdez (10-4) struck out seven and allowed four runs in six innings.
Key moment
The Dodgers sent Michael Conforto to the plate to pinch-hit with two out in the eighth, and the Astros brought in Hader. Manager Dave Roberts replaced Conforto with Ruiz, who fanned on Hader's slider.
Key stat
The Astros have scored 24 runs in the first two games of the series. On Friday night, they handed the Dodgers their worst loss in the history of Dodger Stadium, 18-1.
Up next
Astros RHP Ryan Gusto (5-3, 4.90 ERA) will face the Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan (0-0, 2.25) for Sunday’s series finale.