oklahoma city– Tarry Eason scored a season-high 26 points as the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-106 on Saturday.
Alberin Singun scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and provided 11 assists to achieve his second hat-trick of the season and the 10th in his career. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kevin Durant added 20 points.
Keason Wallace scored 23 points for Oklahoma City, and Isaiah Joe added 21 points.
It was Oklahoma City’s second game without MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is recovering from an abdominal strain. He will be out until after the All-Star break. The Thunder were already missing 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams and sophomore guard Ajay Mitchell, one of the rising stars of All-Star weekend.
Sophomore guard Jared McCain played his first game with the Thunder since arriving in a trade with Philadelphia. He entered late in the first quarter to loud cheers. He finished with five points in 14 minutes.
Oklahoma City fans, still angry with Durant 9 1/2 years after he left the Thunder to head to Golden State in free agency, booed him during pregame introductions. They cheered when the usually excellent striker missed two goals in the second quarter after being fouled on a shot.
McCain scored his first basket for the Thunder about nine minutes before the end of the second quarter. An alley-oop OOP from Joe to Wallace gave the Thunder a 46-32 lead. Oklahoma City led 52-46 in the second half, and Chet Holmgren scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Houston dominated the third and led 80-74 before going into the fourth. Durant didn’t look for his shot much, but he scored on a short jumper to give the Rockets a 107-101 lead with just over a minute left in the fourth period.
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