Courtesy of an epic 3-pointer in the final half-second, Kevin Porter Jr. and the young Rockets walked off with a memorable 114-111 road victory (box score) at Washington. The win returned the Wizards (19-19) to .500 while ending an eight-game losing streak for Houston (11-28).
Christian Wood led Houston with 22 points (66.7% FG), 11 rebounds, and 3 steals, while rookie Jalen Green added 22 points (47.1% FG) and 6 rebounds and veteran Eric Gordon scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6%), including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers (60.0%). Second-year forward Jae’Sean Tate had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
But despite shooting just 3-of-13 (23.1%) on Wednesday, the hero was clearly Porter, who had a strong all-around game with a team-high 8 assists, 4 steals, and 7 rebounds. Bradley Beal scored a game-high 27 points for the Wizards, but he played less than 30 minutes after Josh Christopher took a fourth-quarter foul that ended Beal’s night early.
For the Rockets, of course, the larger context was that the memorable showings by Porter and Wood came in the immediate aftermath of suspensions that led to both missing Monday’s game. As such, Wednesday’s postgame interviews were far more reflective than usual.
The Rockets will now return home for a three-game homestand over a period of four days, starting Friday versus Dallas. Until then, scroll on for highlights and postgame reaction from Wednesday’s game.
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