TEXAS – Jalen Green carried the scoring cudgels for the Houston Rockets in overtime. They stunned Los Angeles Lakers, 139-130, in the 2021-2022 NBA Season on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The Filipino-American rookie set the tone for the Rockets in the extension period with seven straight points followed by a three-pointer from veteran Eric Gordon for a 130-120 advantage.
The Lakers trimmed it to 125-133 on a triple by LeBron James but consecutive outside hits from Green and Alperen Sengun gave Houston its largest lead at 139-127.
Green finished with career-high 32 points, with 10 coming in the overtime, while fellow rookies Sengun and Josh Christopher added 21 markers apiece as the Rockets moved up to 17-49.
KJ Martin had double-double 17 points and 11 rebounds, Gordon and Dennis Schroder had 15 and 12 points, respectively, while Kevin Porter Jr. had a near triple-double 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Russell Westbrook tallied 30 points and eight rebounds, James had triple-double 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists as the Lakers dropped to 28-37.
Meanwhile, Malik Beasley set a franchise-record in three-pointers made as the Minnesota Timberwolves prevailed over Oklahoma City Thunder, 132-102, at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Beasley, who started in place of injured Patrick Beverley, made 11 3-pointers to finish with 33 points as the TWolves notched its sixth straight victory to improve to 38-29.
Beasley’s hot shooting helped Minnesota build a big lead early. He drained six trifectas in the first quarter – also a team record – and led all Wolves scorers with 21 points in the first half.
Taurean Prince chipped in 17 points off the bench for Minnesota, while Karl-Anthony Towns recorded double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes.
BOX SCORE:
HOUSTON 139 — Green 32, Christopher 21, Sengun 21, Martin 17, Gordon 15, Schroder 12, Porter 10, Mathews 7, Nwaba 4.
LOS ANGELES 130 — Westbrook 30, James 23, Monk 20, Reaves 17, Augustin 16, Anthony 13, Johnson 5, Bradley 5, Gabriel 1, Bazemore 0.
Quarterscores: 32-38, 68-63, 97-98, 120-120, 139-130. PN
