The Houston Rockets closed strong down the stretch Thursday night, riding 35 points from Kevin Durant to a 105-101 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Durant sealed the victory at the free-throw line, calmly knocking down two shots with 3.2 seconds remaining after Charlotte had pulled within two. He scored 10 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, repeatedly punishing the Hornets from the mid-range. His biggest bucket came with 44 seconds left, when he drove the left side of the lane and elevated over traffic to beat the shot clock.
Houston overcame an 11-point first-half deficit behind a balanced effort. Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points, while Reed Sheppard and Alperen Sengun chipped in 13 apiece. Sengun helped create separation midway through the fourth, scoring on a spinning reverse layup over rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner and following it with a soft hook shot to give Houston a 95-84 lead with five minutes to play.
Charlotte entered the night having won 11 of its previous 12 games, its lone loss during that stretch coming against Eastern Conference-leading Detroit. The Hornets started fast, surging to an 11-point advantage early in the second quarter. Grant Williams paced Charlotte with 20 points, while Brandon Miller scored 17 but struggled from deep, finishing 1 of 12 from 3-point range.
LaMelo Ball, playing one day after being involved in a two-car crash in downtown Charlotte, contributed 11 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Rookie Kon Knueppel kept the Hornets within striking distance late, drilling two 3-pointers in the final minutes and a third with six seconds left to trim the deficit to 103-101. But Charlotte was forced to foul, and Durant’s free throws iced it.
Up next:
The Rockets next travel to face the Knicks on Saturday night, while the Hornets return home to host Cleveland on Friday.
