Alperen Sengun stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as the Houston Rockets closed strong to rally past the San Antonio Spurs 111-106 on Tuesday night.
Rookie Reed Sheppard sparked the comeback by scoring 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Kevin Durant added 18 points as Houston won its third straight game after erasing a double-digit deficit.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 16 and entered the fourth quarter down 10 before flipping the game with an early run. Houston opened the final period by scoring nine of the first 10 points, cutting the deficit to one before eventually taking control late.
The game was tied in the final two minutes when Sheppard blocked a Julian Champagnie 3-point attempt. Jabari Smith Jr. followed with a fadeaway jumper to give Houston a 106-104 lead, and Sengun extended it with a basket inside with about 30 seconds remaining. After Stephon Castle missed a 3 for San Antonio, Sheppard sealed the win with two free throws.
Champagnie led the Spurs with 27 points and knocked down eight 3-pointers, continuing his hot shooting stretch after setting a franchise record with 11 3s in a game last month. Victor Wembanyama finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Tipoff was delayed 22 minutes after a rim was damaged during warmups and needed to be replaced.
Up next:
*Spurs: Visit Utah on Thursday night.
Rockets: Visit Philadelphia on Thursday night.*
