Rockets hold on to beat Wizards 123-118

The Houston Rockets built up a big lead against the Washington Wizards, and then they had hold on towards the end and a fourth-quarter rally by the Wiz, finishing the game with a 123-118 victory.

The Rockets were led by Alperen Sengun, who finished witgh 32 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and a block, but he did turn the ball over 8 times. Sengun shot 12-for-20 from the field. Houston also got 30 from Kevin Durant, who also had 7 rebounds, but he also racked up 6 turnovers, making 14 between KD and Alpie out of the Rockets 20 total turnovers. .

And this was with good play by a point guard. Reed Sheppard had his first career double-double. He played 42 minutes, finishing with 19 points on 7-for-18 from the floor, 4-for-11 from deep, to go with 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks for a monster stat line for Reed. Of course, in the post game, coach Ime Udoka mentioned that he expects Jabari Smith Jr. to be back soon and Reed to head back to the bench, but that’s a convo for another day.

Amen Thompson also pitched in 22 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists on 10-for-15 shooting, to round things out for the Rockets.

The Wizards were led by Bilal Coulibali, who finished with 23 points, and Sharife Cooper who had 21. Trae Young was also ejected from the Wizards bench, while Tari Eason was ejected for the Rockets. That gave Dorian Finney-Smith for Houston 27 minutes of playing time. He had 5 points and 6 boards on 2-for-6 shooting, 1-for-1 from deep.

The Rockets move to 38-22 on the season and still sit in third place in the Western Conference, while the Wizards fall to 16-44 on the year. The Rockets are now off until Thursday, when they will return to action against their arch nemesis the Golden State Warriors.