It took overtime, but the Houston Rockets pulled out their ninth win of this young NBA season by defeating the Orlando Magic, 117-113.
The end of regulation in this game was crazy. Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun hit clutch shots down the stretch, and Magic guard Anthony Black came up with a loose ball and dunked on a fast break, where he was also fouled to keep Orlando alive.
However, Durant wasnâ€t done there as he hit another clutch shot in overtime to put Houston up113-110, with 9.2 seconds remaining in overtime. Durant led all scorers with 35 points in the win and played the most minutes along with Alperen Sengun who also posted 45 minutes and 30 points in the win.
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Second year Rockets guard Reed Sheppard chipped in 16 points off the bench and Amen Thompson dropped a double double with his 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets shot 40% from 3-points range and just two of those came from Durant. Houston also made 86.2% of their free throw attempts, both of which were an issue for the Rockets last season. Houston improved to 9-3 with the win and are currently sitting in third place in the western conference.
Orlando fell to 7-7 after Sunday night’s road loss despite Franz Wagner’s 29 points and 26 from Desmond Bane. The Magic were dominated on the boards by the Rockets, 60-38. Orlando also lost the points in the paint battle by 12, 58-46.
This was Houston’s fourth consecutive win and their ninth in the last 10 games after starting the season 0-2. Durant has been every bit of what was advertised for the Rockets thus far, averaging 25.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists per game and shooting over 42% from behind the arc. Houston’s next game is on Wednesday where they’ll look to make it five in a row on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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