Less than one month ago, the Rockets defeated the Thunder by 33 points to improve to .500 on the 2021-22 NBA season. On Wednesday, Houston (1-14) lost to that same team by double digits in Oklahoma City and extended its losing streak of ongoing futility to 13 games.
Lu Dort scored 34 points on 14-of-22 shooting (63.6%) in the third 30+ point game of his career, and it led the host Thunder (6-7) to a comfortable 101-89 victory (box score) over Houston. In a matchup of two young teams on fairly similar rebuilding timelines, it was a stark contrast of one side that had clearly improved since the start of the regular season in October and another that continues to regress.
Jalen Green led Houston with 21 points on 6-of-14 shooting (42.9%), but Christian Wood continued his shooting slump by scoring just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting (25.0%), including 0-of-4 on 3-pointers and 2-of-6 on free throws (33.3%). The Rockets made a strategic lineup change by starting Danuel House Jr. over Daniel Theis for matchup reasons, but House went 0-for-5 and did not score, and Theis ended up finishing the game in his usual spot alongside Wood and Jae’Sean Tate on the front line, anyway. Kevin Porter Jr. sat out due to a left thigh contusion.
See below for highlights, statistics, and player analysis from Wednesday’s game, with grades limited to players who played at least 15 minutes. Houston will continue its four-game road trip with Saturday’s visit to New York (8-7), where tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Central.
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