Houston scored 20 unanswered points in a stretch that turned a 6-6 tie into an 11-26 lead, then stretched the margin to 29 before coasting through a reserve-heavy fourth quarter. The 116-89 win closed the preseason at 2-1 and sends the Rockets into next week's regular-season opener against Dallas with Durant, VanVleet, Eason and Sengun all off the injury list.
First quarter
Houston trailed 6-6 early before ripping off a 20-0 run that spanned the final six minutes of the opening period, turning the game into an 11-26 laugher by the 2:08 mark. The Rockets closed the quarter up 33-15, the widest single-quarter split of the night and the stretch that decided the game before halftime.
Second into third quarter
Houston piled on with a 16-0 run bridging the end of the second quarter and the start of the third, going from 47-50 to 49-66 and forcing two Oklahoma City timeouts. By early in the third, the Rockets' lead had grown to 29 points, the largest cushion either side would see.
Thunder's answer
Oklahoma City's only sustained push came next, a 10-0 run from 53-70 to 63-72 that trimmed the margin for a few possessions. Houston shut it down by period's end, taking a 79-69 lead into the fourth and never letting the game get tight again.
Who closed it out
With the result decided, Ime Udoka finished with a bench five of Bogdan Bogdanovic, Bruce Thornton, Isaiah Crawford, Oscar Tshiebwe and Quadir Copeland. That group, plus 12 points from Eason and 11 from Reed Sheppard earlier, helped Houston's reserves outscore the starters 54-48 for the game.
Grades
Sengun went 7-for-11 for a 14-7-5 line with 2 blocks in 24 minutes, finishing plus-14 in what graded as Houston's best two-way performance. Bogdanovic paced all scorers with 15 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting off the bench. Durant needed only 16 minutes to post a plus-14 on 4-for-10 shooting, VanVleet went 3-for-13 but still ran the offense to 8 assists and a plus-15, and Capela's minus-8 in 11 minutes was the night's low mark.
What was the final score of the Rockets' preseason finale against the Thunder?
Houston won 116-89 on October 15, finishing the preseason 2-1.
Who led the Rockets in their win over Oklahoma City?
Bogdan Bogdanovic led all scorers with 15 points off the bench, and Alperen Sengun ran a 14-7-5 line with 2 blocks and a plus-14 in 24 minutes.
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