Rockets Beat Hawks 120-110 for Second Time in Three Days

The Atlanta Hawks were within 2 points with 9:39 left Monday night at Toyota Center. The Houston Rockets scored the next 14.

Houston won 120-110 for its second victory over Atlanta in three days. The Hawks fell to 2-2, and the Rockets stayed unbeaten at 4-0.

Atlanta opened the season with wins at Orlando and Charlotte. The 128-81 result in Charlotte on Oct. 23 was the largest win in franchise history.

On Saturday, Houston won 121-114 in the Hawks’ home opener at State Farm Arena after leading by 20 with 7:58 to go. Fred VanVleet sat out that game with what the Rockets listed as right knee injury management. He started Monday and had 5 points and 5 assists in 28:48.

Atlanta led 35-32 after the first quarter and 66-63 at halftime. There were 15 lead changes in the first half, and neither team went up by more than 6.

CJ McCollum scored 11 of his 20 points in the second quarter. He was 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from 3-point range in the period, and he had 15 at the break on 6-of-8 shooting.

Houston turned it over 10 times before halftime. The Hawks scored 20 points off those turnovers.

The third quarter went 28-19 to Houston. Atlanta shot 9-of-28 from the field in the period, missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts, and made 1 of 3 free throws.

Alperen Sengun had 12 points in the quarter. Kevin Durant added 11, going 6-of-6 at the line.

Sengun’s cutting layup with 6:06 left in the third, and the free throw that followed, put Houston up 78-76. Atlanta did not lead again.

Durant hit a 3-pointer at the 2:42 mark and two free throws 32 seconds later to make it 89-78. Luguentz Dort answered with 7 straight points in 47 seconds: a cutting dunk, a driving layup and free throw, and a finger roll that made it 89-85 with 1:12 left in the quarter.

Sengun’s turnaround hook with 40.8 seconds remaining sent the game to the fourth at 91-85.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s 3-pointer off a Jock Landale pass got Atlanta within 95-93. Reed Sheppard hit a 3 for Houston at 9:03.

Jabari Smith Jr. scored on a cutting dunk and made the free throw. Sengun dunked in transition, and Tari Eason hit a 3 on the break at 7:48. Eason added a free throw and a driving dunk, and Houston led 109-93 with 6:52 left.

Jalen Johnson’s driving dunk at 6:34 ended the run. It was Atlanta’s first basket in 3:05.

Smith’s cutting layup at 4:44 made it 117-95, Houston’s largest lead of the night. The Hawks scored the next 8 points on a McCollum 3, three Johnson free throws, and a McCollum layup, and they trailed 117-103 with 3:20 left.

Durant did not play in the fourth quarter. He finished with 22 points and 9 rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting, made 9 of his 10 free throws, and blocked 4 shots.

Competitive, to Hawks coach Quin Snyder, means the scoreboard. Atlanta scored 44 points in the second half and allowed 57.

“They are a very good team,” Snyder said. “I think two things. One, when we play the way that we are capable of playing and need to play, we’re very competitive, meaning on the scoreboard. When we don’t [change] side to side, we don’t run, we don’t pass the ball, we’re just not as good a team.”

“We just have to stay committed to who we are and who we need to be to be as good as we want to be, to be successful,” Snyder continued. “We’ll get back and look at it [and] be able to drill down and see the situations where we can get better. But we have to stay committed to the way that — our way. It’s not a right way or a wrong way. It’s the way that we need to play. And when we don’t do that, we’re not as good.”

Johnson led Atlanta with 21 points and 9 rebounds. He shot 5-of-14 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line, with 4 turnovers and 5 fouls. In Saturday’s game, he finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 16 assists. His 16 assists that night matched a career high.

McCollum added 4 steals. Alexander-Walker and Aaron Wiggins scored 12 apiece, Wiggins off the bench on 5-of-12 shooting, and Onyeka Okongwu had 11 points and 9 rebounds, 5 of them offensive.

Atlanta’s bench outscored Houston’s 42-33. Dort had 11 of those points. Landale finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Kingston Flemings had 6 points, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers in 18:29.

Sengun finished with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. His 6 steals were a career high. His previous best was 5, which he had reached twice. He also turned it over 6 times.

Smith had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Amen Thompson scored 15 on 6-of-8 shooting, and Eason and Sheppard had 13 apiece off the bench.

Houston committed 22 turnovers, and Atlanta scored 32 points off them. The Hawks’ 13 turnovers led to 19 Rockets points.

The Rockets shot 43-of-81 (53.1%) from the field. Atlanta took 17 more shots and finished 42-of-98 (42.9%), including 11-of-39 (28.2%) from 3.

Houston outrebounded Atlanta 52-35 and had 40 defensive rebounds to the Hawks’ 22. It went 11-of-12 on fast-break field goals and outscored Atlanta 29-20 in fast-break points.

At the free-throw line, the Rockets were 26-of-32 and the Hawks were 15-of-21.

Both benches emptied with 1:22 left. Corey Kispert scored 5 points in that stretch, including a 3 with 17.7 seconds to go.

Henri Veesaar (right knee ACL tear) and Mouhamed Gueye (left foot fracture) were inactive for Atlanta again. Houston’s inactive list included Steven Adams, with a right soleus strain, and Marcus Smart, with a left forearm strain.

The Miami Heat visit State Farm Arena at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday. The Cleveland Cavaliers follow Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, an hour later than originally scheduled, after WNBA Finals Game 6 between the Dream and the Golden State Valkyries tips at 12:30 p.m. ET in the same building.