With 65 combined points on strong efficiency, fourth-year players Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun led the Houston Rockets to one of their best wins of the 2024-25 NBA season in Friday's 125-111 victory over Oklahoma City (recap).
Houston (51-27) and Oklahoma City (64-13) remain at No. 2 and No. 1 in the Western Conference standings, respectively.
Courtesy of the Rockets' public relations (PR) department, here is a roundup of postgame news and notes after Friday's game:
- With the win, the Rockets finished their season series versus the Thunder with a 2-3 mark, including 2-0 in home games at Toyota Center. Houston has won 14 of its past 16 games, while Oklahoma City has its 11-game winning streak snapped along with an 11-game road winning streak, which was its longest in franchise history.
- Houston won by 14 points, marking Oklahoma City’s second-biggest loss of the season (15 points to Minnesota on Feb. 13). The Rockets have won eight games by double-digits since the start of March and 25 times overall this season.
- The Rockets shot 44.8% from 3-point range tonight after shooting 42.2% versus Utah in their previous game on April 2. The last time Houston shot 40.0% or better from 3-point range in consecutive games was a season-best span of three games from Jan. 22 through Jan. 27. The Rockets are 18-2 when shooting 40.0% or better from downtown this season. Eight of Oklahoma City’s 13 losses this season have come when opponents shot 40.0% or better from 3.
- Houston out-rebounded Oklahoma City by 15 boards. The Rockets have out-rebounded their opponents in 15 straight games, which is the longest streak by any team since a 16-game span by Utah in early 2015.
- Houston has out-rebounded opponents by a total of 514 boards this season. Dating back to 1996-97, only two teams have finished a season with a rebounding differential of +500 or better: Memphis at +505 in 2021-22 and Oklahoma City at +691 in 2015-16. Both of those teams also featured Steven Adams.
- Jalen Green had 34 points Friday after not having more than 18 points in the first four games against the Thunder this season. He has scored 30+ points in five of the past 10 games and 14 times overall this season (the Rockets are 13-1 in those games).
- Alperen Sengun had 31 points on Friday after not having more than 20 points in his first three games versus Oklahoma City this season. He has scored 30+ points twice over the past five games and seven times overall this season. Sengun had 12 free-throw attempts Friday and has recorded 10+ free throws 12 times in 2024-25 after doing so a total of 14 times over his first three NBA seasons.
- Amen Thompson had 16 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Since the start of January, he is one of four players with 10+ starts to average at least 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists (joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, and Domantas Sabonis). Thompson shot 2-of-2 from 3-point range and is shooting 11-of-28 (39.3%) from distance over his past 19 games played.
- For the Thunder, All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 22 points and a season-low-tying two free-throw ...
