ROCKETS BLAST SUNS
Rockets extend hot streak with lopsided win over Suns
Mar 31, 2025, 9:56 am
The Rockets beat the Suns 148-109. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Jalen Green scored 33 points for Houston, and Phoenix star Kevin Durant left with an ankle injury in the Rockets' 148-109 romp over the Suns on Sunday night.
Durant fell to the floor with 6:57 left in the third quarter after he stepped on Rockets Jabari Smith Jr.‘s foot. Durant got to his feet, but could not put weight on his left leg. Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said Durant will have an MRI on Monday and will not accompany the team to Milwaukee for a game Tuesday night.
Durant finished with 11 points in 23 minutes, but the Rockets were already well ahead, having taken a 78-49 lead at halftime. Houston (49-26) has won 12 of its last 13 and is second in the Western Conference standings, two games ahead of Denver.
Alperen Sengun had 16 points and nine rebounds and rookie Amen Thompson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Rockets. Neither played in the fourth quarter as Houston led by 42 points.
Devin Booker scored 28 points for the Suns, who fell two games behind Dallas for the final play-in spot in the West with six games remaining. It was Phoenix’s third loss in a row.
Rockets forward Dillon Brooks was ejected i n the second quarter after a brief shoving match with Durant. He was assessed two technical fouls while Durant and Nick Richards each received one.
Takeaways
Rockets: The Rockets are 12-4 in March with a game remaining.
Suns: Own the tiebreaker against the Mavericks based on winning the season series from Dallas. But with or without Durant, five of their last six games are against playoff teams.
Key moment
After Brooks’ ejection, Houston outscored Phoenix 23-11 the rest of the half to lead by 29 at the break.
Key stat
Phoenix committed 19 turnovers leading to 34 Houston points.
Up next
The Rockets are at the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. The Suns are at Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?