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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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.