Houston Rockets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 8:30 PM ET
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV | Game ID: 22401230
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 18 23 34 36 111HOU 20 22 27 27 96
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 points to lead Thunder past Rockets 111-96 and into NBA Cup Final
LAS VEGAS -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late Saturday night to defeat the Houston Rockets 111-96 and advance to the NBA Cup championship.
The Thunder take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday night's final against the Bucks. Milwaukee defeated the Atlanta Hawks 110-102 in the Eastern Conference semifinal. The title game does not count in the league standings.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 21 points for the Thunder, Jalen Williams scored 20 and Luguentz Dort finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Amen Thompson led Houston with 19 points, one of six Rockets in double figures, and Alperen Sengun had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rockets and Thunder have two of the three best records in the Western Conference, making Saturday's second semifinal a potential playoff preview.
Takeaways Rockets: Fred VanVleet 's 3-point shooting woes continued. He made 6 of 29 in his previous three games and missed his first nine shots from 3 and finished 1 of 11 against OKC.
Thunder: Gilgeous-Alexander entered this game averaging 30.2 points and shooting 51.5% but struggled to find his offensive game early. He found a way to get to the free throw line, making 14 of 15 to help surpass his season average.
Key moment Oklahoma City went on a 13-3 run to go ahead 97-82 with 4:57 left and break open what was a close game.
Key stat The Thunder scored 70 points in the second half. That second-half surge enabled Oklahoma City to turn a 42-41 halftime deficit into a fairly easy victory.
Up next The Thunder will play Milwaukee in Tuesday’s championship game before returning to regular season play on Thursday at Orlando. The Rockets also return to regular season play on Thursday against New Orleans.
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
JS J. Smith Jr.
JG Ja. Green
SA S. Adams
TE T. Eason
OKCAC A. Caruso
AM A. Mitchell
AW A. Wiggins
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
HOU/OKC 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