Thunder exposes Rockets as stakes rise

A strong statement, a warning shot, a night to shine. That was how the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, chose to respond on Thursday in their visit to the Toyota Center to face the Houston Rockets. Two of the Western Conference’s leading teams were separated not by an ocean – that would be overstating it – but by a clear and solid gap, just to avoid any confusion. The franchise defending the crown has more than enough resources to close out games with one eye on the rearview mirror and the other fixed firmly on the horizon. Having partially set aside the pursuit of the regular-season wins record – still attainable, given they have dropped only seven games and the mark stands at nine – their priority now is to show as much muscle as possible.

It barely mattered whether Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered a dazzling performance, whether the superlatives needed toning down, or whether it simply wasn’t his night. He finished with 20 points, five turnovers and a striking 7-of-8 from the free-throw line – a modest stat line by the standards he has set over the past two years. Not erratic. Not poor. Just short of fully tightening the screws. Against a team like the Rockets, that may be required on another occasion – hopefully this matchup returns in the spring – but it wasn’t necessary here. A 111–91 win was more than enough. The visitors controlled the game at will and claimed their reward.

Shai is merely the tip of the spear for a collective built for big things if it stays together. Smart front-office work has further strengthened an already powerful roster, adding the qualities of Ajay Mitchell, who is enjoying meaningful minutes this season in Mark Daigneault’s rotation. On this night, he converted seven of his ten shot attempts – one of those bench players who quietly expand a team’s ceiling.

Kevin Durant, by contrast, endured a miserable evening. The forward has high-caliber teammates – Turkish center Alperen Şengün (14 points, 13 rebounds) among them – but much of the burden still falls on his shoulders. His 7-of-23 shooting against the Thunder fell well short of expectations. A woeful shooting night, compounded by the struggles of Reed Sheppard, Davison and Amen Thompson, who combined to go 9-of-35. Oklahoma City’s defense completely knocked them off balance.

Houston has gradually leaned into a tall lineup as the season has progressed, with improving results, but a structural issue emerges when the competition level rises. Oklahoma may simply be too much. By dragging interior threats away from the basket and forcing difficult shots from players compelled to take them, the visitors executed a sharp defensive plan. The outcome spoke for itself.

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Houston Rockets

Stats

7 Kevin Durant
10 Jabari Smith Jr.
28 Alperen Sengün
20 Josh Okogie
1 Amen Thompson
12 Steven Adams
30 Clint Capela
4 JD Davison
32 Jeff Green
0 Aaron Holiday
15 Reed Sheppard
8 Jae'Sean Tate

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
7 Kevin Durant	36	19	7	0	7	3	2	3	1	5/5	7/18	0/5	0	0	0
10 Jabari Smith Jr.	33	17	10	2	8	1	5	2	1	4/4	2/9	3/6	0	3	0
28 Alperen Sengün	32	14	13	5	8	5	5	0	1	0/0	7/14	0/1	0	2	0
20 Josh Okogie	22	5	5	3	2	1	2	2	1	0/0	1/3	1/3	0	1	0
1 Amen Thompson	39	13	9	7	2	3	0	2	0	5/8	4/16	0/0	0	3	0
12 Steven Adams	25	6	11	6	5	0	0	0	2	0/0	3/6	0/0	0	0	0
30 Clint Capela	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0
4 JD Davison	20	5	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0/0	1/4	1/5	0	2	0
32 Jeff Green	3	3	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	1/1	0	0	0
0 Aaron Holiday	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0
15 Reed Sheppard	19	7	2	0	2	3	0	1	0	0/0	2/7	1/3	0	0	0
8 Jae'Sean Tate	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	0	0

Oklahoma City Thunder

Stats

5 Luguentz Dort
8 Jalen Williams
7 Chet Holmgren
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
21 Aaron Wiggins
9 Alex Caruso
13 Ousmane Dieng
11 Isaiah Joe
25 Ajay Mitchell
22 Cason Wallace
6 Jaylin Williams
34 Kenrich Williams
3 Chris Youngblood

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
5 Luguentz Dort	20	13	3	0	3	1	2	0	1	0/0	2/3	3/5	0	3	0
8 Jalen Williams	31	6	5	0	5	10	0	0	1	2/2	2/10	0/1	0	0	0
7 Chet Holmgren	28	18	9	2	7	1	0	2	4	2/3	5/6	2/3	0	4	0
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	32	20	2	0	2	4	5	0	2	7/8	5/8	1/3	0	1	0
21 Aaron Wiggins	19	5	5	1	4	0	1	1	0	0/0	1/4	1/4	0	1	0
9 Alex Caruso	18	5	4	1	3	2	1	2	1	0/0	1/2	1/5	0	0	0
13 Ousmane Dieng	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/1	0	0	0
11 Isaiah Joe	7	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	2/4	0	1	0
25 Ajay Mitchell	22	17	5	1	4	3	1	1	1	0/0	4/6	3/4	0	0	0
22 Cason Wallace	22	8	3	1	2	2	1	3	0	0/0	1/3	2/4	0	1	0
6 Jaylin Williams	16	6	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2/2	2/2	0/2	0	4	0
34 Kenrich Williams	14	7	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0/0	2/2	1/5	0	1	0
3 Chris Youngblood	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0