Kevin Durant scored 25 points in three periods as the Houston Rockets snapped the visiting Atlanta Hawks’ 11-game winning streak with a 117-95 victory on Friday.
Jabari Smith Jr. added 23 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets (42-27), who blitzed Atlanta from the deep in the third quarter. Houston hit 6 of 11 3-pointers to turn an eight-point halftime lead into a 101-76 cushion after Durant and Reed Sheppard nailed consecutive 3s late in the period.
Durant shot 9 of 15 from the floor and added six assists. Sheppard, starting in place of the scuffling Tari Eason, added 14 points and four 3-pointers. Eason managed a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker paced the Hawks (38-32) with 21 points, while CJ McCollum tallied 17. Zaccharie Risacher scored 16 points off the bench before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Alperen Sengun (15 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists) came up one board shy of his fourth triple-double of the season. He tallied four assists in the breakout third quarter. He fed Amen Thompson (14 points, seven rebounds) for a pair of alley-oop dunks before connecting with Eason for a layup that pushed the Rockets to a 79-62 lead at the 5:32 mark.
The Rockets delivered the knockout blow moments later when Eason, Sheppard and Smith delivered 3-pointers during a stretch that extended the lead to 88-64. Durant, who logged only 30 minutes on the front end of a back-to-back that includes the Miami Heat on Saturday, and Sheppard followed from deep to help the Rockets carry a 25-point lead into the fourth.
Houston led by as many as 34 points before both teams went to their reserves.
Durant and Smith combined for 20 points in the first quarter on 8-for-10 shooting. Houston extended its 35-27 lead entering the second to a dozen points via two Aaron Holiday 3-pointers before Risacher tallied eight points in the period to keep the Hawks within shouting distance.
After the Rockets extended their lead to 15 points, Atlanta responded with a 10-0 spurt that featured a dunk and 3-pointer from Jalen Johnson. The Hawks did not have an answer for the Rockets’ hot shooting in the third.
