RED-HOT ROCKETS
VanVleet has season-high 38 to lead Rockets to win over Thunder
Dec 2, 2024, 12:10 pm
Rockets defeat the Thunder, 119-116. Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images.
Fred VanVleet had a season-high 38 points and Dillon Brooks made a go-ahead jump shot late to help the Houston Rockets to a 119-116 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Sunday night.
The game was tied at 113 when Brooks hit the short jumper in the lane just before the shot clock expired to put the Rockets on top with 33.1 seconds to go.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a shot on the other end and Brooks grabbed the rebound. VanVleet was fouled and made both free throws to make it 117-113 with 4.6 seconds remaining.
Jalen Williams got the Thunder within 1 on a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left, but VanVleet made two more free throws to secure the win.
It’s the third straight win for the Rockets and their fifth in the last six games, and it came after Oklahoma City got a 126-107 victory in the first meeting on Nov. 8.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points in his fourth straight 30-point game for the Thunder, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
Takeaways
Thunder: Isaiah Hartenstein is off to a strong start in his return after missing the first 15 games of the season with a fractured hand. He had 19 points and 13 rebounds on Sunday and has had at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in each of his five games this season.
Rockets: Four of Houston’s starters finished in double figures with Alperen Sengun scoring 20, Brooks with 16 and Jabari Smith Jr. with 15.
Key moment
The shot by Brooks put the Rockets on top 115-113. It came after a jump ball that he won against Gilgeous-Alexander.
Key stat
These teams combined to shoot 64 free throws with Houston going 30 of 39 and Oklahoma City making 19 of 25.
Up next
The Rockets begin a three-game trip at Sacramento Tuesday night, and the Thunder host the Jazz that night.
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The Houston Astros have looked like one of baseball’s most dangerous teams in recent weeks, riding a hot streak fueled by dominant starting pitching and a red-hot offense that’s erupted for double-digit runs in four of their last eight games. But behind the current success, there are fair questions about whether this pace is truly sustainable as the grind of the season continues.
Yes, the Astros are winning — and winning big — but context matters. Many of their recent victories have come against struggling clubs like the White Sox and Athletics. Even matchups against the Twins and Guardians, while respectable, don’t exactly represent championship-caliber tests. That soft stretch of the schedule has certainly helped Houston pad its win column, but it may not be the best predictor of long-term performance. Houston will be tested in the upcoming series against the Phillies and Cubs.
On the pitching side, the numbers have been impressive, but how repeatable is it? With Lance McCullers Jr. sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, the Astros are relying on a patchwork rotation that includes unproven arms like Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto, and Brandon Walter. While each has shown flashes, asking them to shoulder the load deep into the summer may be a tall order.
Offensively, Houston is firing on all cylinders. But scoring 10 or more runs every other game simply isn’t sustainable over a 162-game season. Regression is inevitable; the question is how the team responds when the bats cool down or the bullpen is asked to carry more weight.
Amid all this, rookie third baseman Cam Smith continues to shine. Just a few months into his major league career, Smith is producing at a level that suggests he’s not just a key piece of the future — he’s already one of the team’s most valuable players. His batting average sits just a point behind Jose Altuve’s, and his OPS is even higher. If the Astros were forced to choose two players to build around long-term, factoring in youth and contract status, the logical duo might be Smith and breakout pitcher Hunter Brown.
So what about the big picture? Is this team a true World Series contender?
Oddsmakers currently have Houston with the seventh-best odds to win it all, and only the Yankees and Tigers rank higher among American League teams. The core is still there, the experience is undeniable, and if the pitching continues to hold — especially with the anticipated return of Spencer Arrighetti and a healthy McCullers — the Astros have every reason to believe they’ll be in the mix deep into October.
But that’s a big “if.” The ceiling is still high, and with Cam Smith emerging as a star in real time, this team might just have another gear. Whether they can reach it when the competition stiffens, that remains to be seen.
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