Charlotte Hornets @ Houston Rockets
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
Toyota Center, Houston, TX | Game ID: 22300122
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
HOU 39 22 25 42 128CHA 27 31 20 41 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Green scores 23, VanVleet 22 as the Rockets earn 1st win of the season, beating the Hornets 128-119
HOUSTON -- — Jalen Green scored 23 and Fred VanVleet added 22 points and 11 assists as the Houston Rockets earned their first win of the season, 128-119 over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
The Rockets, who dropped their first three games, led by 18 points in the first half before letting the Hornets get back in it. But Houston used a big run in the third quarter to stretch its lead and withstood a late push by the Hornets for the victory.
VanVleet, an eight-year veteran who joined the Rockets this season, said young teams have to learn how to win.
“Especially with the history and the circumstances that have been here the last couple of years, you have to learn how valuable possessions are and how fast things can snowball both ways,” he said. “So just continue to make the right plays and chip away and then once it gets crunch time, you've got to be able to get organized and keep your mind right and make the crucial plays.”
Houston was up by five points late in the fourth quarter when a 3-pointer by Green pushed the lead to 120-112 with less than two minutes left.
LaMelo Ball made 1 of 2 free throws before Green added a driving layup with just more than a minute to go.
Terry Rozier made a basket for Charlotte, before Alperen Sengun made a thundering one-handed dunk a few seconds later, pushing the lead to 124-115.
Green was glad to see the Rockets get their first win after losing a couple of close games after a blowout loss to Orlando in their opener.
“We all knew what we were doing and the growth that we made,” he said. “So it was just good to put this one together.”
All five of Houston’s starters score at least 17 points. Dillon Brooks had 20, Sengun had 19 and seven rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 17.
P.J. Washington scored 23 and Rozier finished with 21 points to lead the Hornets, who fell to 1-3.
“There's things we've got to do better,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. “Actually a lot of the stuff we didn't do well tonight, we've done well in the other games. What we've got to do is put it all together.”
Ball had just six points with about six minutes left before scoring 10 points, with two 3-pointers, to power an 18-9 run that cut the lead to 115-110 with about 2½ minutes to go. He finished with 19 points and five assists.
The Rockets led by three points early in the third before using an 11-2 run to make it 77-65 with eight minutes left in the quarter. Green had a 3-pointer in that stretch and Brooks made two consecutive 3’s to cap the run.
Charlotte ended the quarter with a 7-2 spurt, with the first four points from Nick Richards , cutting the lead to 86-78 entering the fourth.
Houston’s Amen Thompson , the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, had four points before leaving in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.
UP NEXT
Hornets: Visit Indiana on Saturday night.
Rockets: Play consecutive home games against Sacramento on Saturday and Monday nights.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JL J. Landale
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
CHABM B. Miller
GH G. Hayward
JT J. Thor
LB L. Ball
MW M. Williams
NR N. Richards
PW P. Washington
TM T. Maledon
TR T. Rozier
HOU/CHA the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur