Oklahoma City Thunder: Top 5 moments from the 2019-20 season so far
By Ryan Love
4. Beating up on Houston
Oklahoma City Thunder fans relished beating up on the Houston Rockets long before Russell Westbrook switched teams.
However, being able to beat Westbrook and James Harden in Houston is a new experience.
The Thunder came into their Jan. 20 game with a 1-1 record in the season series against the Rockets.
Chris Paul scored 27 in the first half but his new team still trailed at halftime.
Houston built a 15-point lead before giving up 13 straight points to only lead 100-98 with less than five minutes left.
Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroder led the way down the stretch — finishing with 25 and 23 points respectively.
”Dennis and Gallinari offensively, made some really really big shots to get us back in the game,” head coach Billy Donovan said to reporters after the game.
“It really was an amazing job by those guys.”
The Thunder used a 6-0 run, and a steal and dunk from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to put the game away in the end.
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The former Thunder stars on the Rockets had very different shooting games but both put up big scoring numbers in the loss.
Westbrook with 32 points on 66.7 percent shooting, Harden with 29 on 31.0 percent shooting.
Westbrook added 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his eighth triple-double of the season.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a triple-double of his own with 13 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
If this season resumes regular play, the Thunder would play the Rockets one more time in Oklahoma City before the playoffs.