On December 28, Beijing time, the NBA regular season burned again, and the Houston Rockets hosted the Phoenix Suns.
The Suns have been in a slump of late, but they found their groove early this time when veteran Avane Gordon returned to Houston with a hot hand and scored 21 points in the first half to give the team the lead. The Suns have been dominant ever since.
In the end, the Suns defeated the Rockets 129-113 on the road, sending the opponent to two consecutive defeats. Recently, the Suns have not only been demoralized, but there have also been some internal frictions.
Eric Gordon is unhappy with the team's role, while Kevin Durant is frustrated with the team's lineup.
And in this game, the team finally played its due momentum.
Gordon has shown what he's capable of and can still make a big contribution to the team. Durant, on the other hand, showed his all-round strength, dimming out 10 assists in the first half alone.
Their outstanding performance helped the team stay on top of the curve and eventually won a 16-point victory. The game shattered the Rockets' winning streak at home, as they were helpless against the Suns and were knocked back to square one, with Brooks' absence having a noticeable impact on the team.
The Rockets failed to limit their opponent's offense, conceding 43 points in the second quarter.
In addition, Smith Jr. also suffered an injury during the game, and he has been in some trouble during this time, and also suffered a complete defeat in this game.
The Rockets' three-point shooting was okay, hitting 17 three-pointers, but unfortunately they couldn't close the score. The Rockets' duo John Wall and Green both had a combined 47 points, but they were up for nothing.
Green has been in a slump before, and was even abandoned in the final quarter, but this time he finally regained some feeling, but unfortunately he only played 25 minutes when the team was already behind by a big score, and contributed 23 points on 6-of-12 three-pointers.
John Wall, on the other hand, was in good form, hitting 9 of 18 shots, contributing 24 points and five rebounds.
The other players played relatively poorly, and the Rockets failed to cause any problems for the Suns. Durant exploded in this game, and he responded directly to the rumors with a fiery performance.
He shot 9-of-16 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line for a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists. That makes him only the fourth player in Suns history to score at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists in a game, and his 16 assists tie his career-high record.