The Suns lost three straight games at home to the Rockets 110-105.
Durant came up to score on a mid-range shot, and Jalen Green responded with two three-pointers. Booker exploded, playing the full 12 minutes of the first quarter, scoring 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and 4-of-4 three-pointers. And the Rockets shot 0 of 15 in more than 7 minutes, and there were 5 turnovers, and they didn't score a point! trailed by 16 points at 17-33 in the first quarter. Whitmore scored four points in the second quarter, and Durant made consecutive passes and shots, and the Suns led by 21 points on an 8-0 run. Jalen Green exploded with 13 points and led the Rockets to an 11-point gap. Booker hit 2+1 and Royce O'Neal hit a three-pointer. VanVleet responded with five consecutive points. Grayson Allen and Booker hit two more three-pointers at the end of the quarter to give the Suns an 11-point lead at halftime 64-53. Booker scored 26 points in the half. Jalen Green scored 21 points.
O'Neal's three-pointer, Booker and Durant's mid-range shot helped the Suns lead to 18 points at the beginning of the third quarter. Jalen Green and VanVleet scored 14 points, and the Rockets chased a 10-point difference. The Suns led 86-75 in the third quarter.
Whitmore hit a shot in the fourth quarter, Jabari Smith hit a three-pointer, and the Rockets chased it to 84-90 in the last seven minutes! Booker scored another three points, Nurkic scored against Shin Kyung, who drew his fifth foul, and then Nurkic drew Shin Kyung's sixth foul, who was ejected for two technical fouls. Booker and Nurkic hit four free throws in a row to give the Suns a 15-point lead at 99-84 in the final six minutes. VanVleet and Landale played 2+1 in a row, and O'Neal responded with three points. In the final 3:27, VanVleet hit a three-pointer to put the Rockets up 93-102. The Rockets cut Nurkic, who made 2 of 6 free throws. After that, Van Vliet made Nurkic six fouls and graduated. VanVleet and Landale's free throws helped the Rockets chase a six-point deficit. Booker hit a shot, Jabari Smith made a layup, and the final 2 minutes were still 6-point difference. After that, the two teams hit iron one after another, and Whitmore dunked in the last 18 seconds to chase a four-point difference, and O'Neal made both free throws to kill the game.
Booker had 35 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Nurkic had 16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 7 turnovers and 6 fouls, Durant had 24 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and O'Neal had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.
The Rockets shot 34% from the field and 11-of-45 from three-point range, Jalen Green had 34 points and 3 steals on 10-of-27 shooting, VanVleet had 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Shin Jing had 8 points, 4 assists and 6 fouls, Smith had 11 points and 16 rebounds on 3-of-11 shooting, and Whitmore had 14 points and 8 rebounds on 5-of-14 shooting.