Houston erased a 21-point deficit and beat Phoenix 119-105, extending their win streak to seven.
There was no shortage of theater Tuesday night at the arena where Kevin Durant spent two and a half seasons as the centerpiece of a team built to win a championship and never quite got there. When Durant was announced as part of the Rockets’ starting lineup, the crowd greeted him with the kind of mixed response that only a city still processing a difficult breakup can produce, part boos, part cheers, and plenty of complicated feelings in between.
By the end of the night, he had given them something to process. Durant finished with 24 points, knocking down five of nine attempts from three-point range, as the Houston Rockets overcame a 21-point first-quarter deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 119-105 and extend their winning streak to seven games.
From a 26-5 hole to a fourth-quarter runaway
The Suns came out with something to prove. Phoenix hit 10 of its first 15 shots and built a 26-5 lead before the first quarter was halfway finished, a start that looked like it might make the evening’s storylines irrelevant. But the Rockets refused to let the deficit define the game.
Houston chipped away steadily and had pulled within three by halftime at 57-54. The teams traded punches through the third quarter, with Phoenix briefly regaining control to lead 84-81 heading into the fourth. Then the Rockets took over. Houston scored the first eight points of the final period to reclaim the lead and never looked back. Durant capped the decisive run with a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 111-96 with just over four minutes remaining, effectively closing the door.
All five Houston starters finished in double figures. The Rockets also dominated the glass in a manner that told its own story, finishing with a 55-34 rebounding edge that reflected the gap in physicality between the two teams on the night.
Devin Booker and a Suns team still searching
Devin Booker did everything he could to keep Phoenix in it, finishing with 31 points in a performance that underscored just how much the Suns are relying on him to carry an offense that has struggled to find consistent support. But one star was not enough against a Houston team that has found a rhythm at the right time in the season.
What this win means for the Rockets
The victory pushed the Rockets into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoff standings, a significant development for a team that has steadily grown into one of the more dangerous units in the conference over the past month.
For Durant specifically, Tuesday’s game carried a weight that transcended the standings. He arrived in Phoenix in 2023 as part of a high-profile trade deadline deal that was celebrated across the league as a sign of the franchise’s ambition under new ownership. The partnership never produced a playoff run beyond the second round, and last offseason he was moved to Houston in a deal that sent Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green the other direction.
His 16-time All-Star pedigree was never in question. What Tuesday demonstrated was that the basketball is still there, and that wherever Durant goes, the results tend to follow. Phoenix is now left to reckon with that, one difficult evening at a time.