Thunder Snap Losing Streak With 105-103 Win Over Rockets

Russell Westbrook scored 30 points and dished out nine assists to help the Thunder (7-5) snap its four-game losing streak with at 105-103 win over the Houston Rockets (6-5).

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With the Thunder leading by three points in the game’s final seconds, Westbrook grabbed the inbounds pass and sprinted full speed at the rim, where he elevated over Rockets’ big man Clint Capela for a monster left-handed slam that iced the game.

While OKC roared out of the games to a 19-6 lead, Houston gradually got in a groove throughout the first half and started knocking down outside shots to claw back into the game despite a poor shooting performance by point guard James Harden.

Despite Harden’s struggles, the Rockets were thriving after halftime and started the third quarter on a 14-to-5 run to go up seven on the Thunder while leading by as many as 11 in the frame.

Fortunately for OKC, the Thunder was able to lock in defensively as Houston struggled to get going in the fourth quarter. Suddenly the shots that were falling for the Rockets earlier in the game just weren’t going down, and Westbrook was taking full advantage of it.

When OKC’s point guard checked back into the game the Thunder trailed by four points, but that quickly changed. Westbrook assisted an Enes Kanter slam, then hit a 3-pointer himself before finding his backcourt buddy Victor Oladipo for a money ball that tied the game at 100.

With the score knotted up, Westbrook slashed to the hoop, but floated a terrific pass to Andre Roberson who sprinted down the baseline for an alley-oop flush to give OKC the lead for good while Westbrook’s dunk all over Capela with five seconds left was the game’s biggest play.

Along with Westbrook’s big night, Oladipo had his best game in a Thunder uniform, scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The Thunder shot 47.6 percent from the field and won the game despite getting outrebounded 47-to-44.

Roberson played tremendous defense on Harden throughout the night, holding the former Thunder sixth-man to only 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

OKC will be back in action on Friday night when they host the Brooklyn Nets.