Houston's dramatic buzzer-beater seals a nail-biting win after a wild lead-swinging, back-and-forth thriller.
We got to see Reed Sheppard in the starting lineup again, and he contributed to their 8-0 breakout. Unfortunately the Heat had an immediate 12-0 response that stretched all the way to a 23-3 run.
Three point shooting kept Houston in the game for the remainder of the first quarter, as Reed Sheppard’s third make pulled Houston back within three points. His floater at the buzzer gave him 11 points and a 32-29 lead for the Rockets.
In a back and forth second quarter, Miami had some highlight dunks that even impressed viewers in the Toyota Center. Bam Adebayo had a double-double early in the quarter, finishing the half with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
The Rockets barely snuck by with a lead, heading into the second half at 64-63. Scoring 32 points per quarter is great, but it didn’t feel all that sustainable considering Houston’s play in 2026. They’d need to slow Miami’s offense down in order to help guarantee a win.
That didn’t happen out of the gates, as there was an offensive barrage in the first few minutes. Both teams were trading basket for basket. Jumpers from KD, then Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün with some highlight dunks of their own.
Ultimately Ime Udoka was forced to call a timeout after Miami went up 83-80 with 7:09 remaining. Allowing 20 points in less than five minutes was certainly not the way they wanted to start the half. The Heat were comfortable now.
Despite a personal 5-0 run by Tari Eason, Miami continued to stick around, going on a 13-2 run of their own. This was precisely the concern. After scoring 29 in the first and 34 in the second quarter, the Heat put up another 33 after halftime.
The Rockets scored 23 points in the third quarter, and only a single bucket in the last five and a half minutes of action. Heading into the final quarter with a 96-87 deficit, there would have to be a big turnaround for Houston to pull out a win.
Thankfully the crowd was on their side. With a 24-10 record at home, Rockets fans were rowdy on a Saturday night and a 15-0 run gave them plenty to cheer about. An Aaron Holiday three from the parking lot gave them a 109-105 lead.
After keeping a 119-113 lead, palms got sweaty as Miami drained a three and forced a turnover with less than a minute remaining. Things got worse when they got a straight line drive to make it a one point game.
The Rockets got incredibly lucky as a kicked ball reset the shot clock from 4 to 14 seconds with only 26.8 on the game clock. With the game on the line, Reed Sheppard drove and hit another buzzer beating floater to make it 121-118.
Playing the foul game for the remaining 12.7 seconds, Houston was on their way to an impressive win. Just inbound the ball and make your free throws. Simple.
At least it should’ve been. Instead, another turnover resulted in Miami regaining the lead.
With only 5.4 seconds left and facing a 121-122 deficit, the Rockets would unsurprisingly turn to KD. After a great contest from Bam forced him to double clutch the elbow jumper, the game was seemingly over when it rimmed off.
But Amen Thompson flew in from nowhere to collect his career high 18th rebound on a tipped in game winner. His 24th point concluded a wild Saturday night of basketball in Houston.
