On Wednesday, Feb. 12, the Houston Rockets hosted the Phoenix Suns.
In a hard-fought game that went back-and-forth through all four quarters, the Rockets did just enough to squeak out a 119-111 victory.
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Tari Eason stuffed the stat sheet tonight, finishing with a team-high 25 points, along with nine boards, four assists and three steals. Jalen Green finished with 22 points and five assists of his own.
After the win, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said Eason’s significant effort on the defensive side of the ball were expected, as he will rest in tomorrow night’s game against the Warriors.
“The whole Tari energy—he’s not playing tomorrow, so he lays it on the line tonight, goes all out,” Udoka said. “The impact, he’s all over the place. Like I said, he’ll get burnt once or twice making a gamble, but more often than not, he comes up with those loose balls. Great job by him.”
Eason’s strong performance didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, either. Amen Thompson also had high praise for the third-year forward from LSU, particularly regarding his defense on Suns’ star Kevin Durant.
“Tari was great,” Thompson said. “Getting those steals and fast breaks, guarding KD and making him miss—Tari’s always great.”
With Devin Booker and Bradley Beal both sidelined tonight for Phoenix, Durant was tasked with the carrying the brunt of the offense, and he delivered with a 37-point, nine-assist outing.
Eason had complimentary words for Durant following the game, acknowledging that although there’s really no way to stop him on offense, the Rockets did a nice job containing him with timely double-teams and aggressive defense.
“We just tried to slow him down,” Eason said. “He’s an elite scorer. [We] threw a lot of bodies at him to try and tire him out... We won the game.”
The win lifts Houston to a 34-20 record on the season, good for fourth place in a competitive Western Conference.
Tonight’s contest was the Rockets’ first matchup against the Suns in the 2024-25 season. The teams will meet in Houston again on March 12, and then they’ll round things out in Phoenix on March 30.
Game recap
First quarter
Durant and Royce O’Neale came out swinging offensively, combining for 15 of the Suns’ first 17 points. Despite their hot start, quick buckets in response by Green and Eason kept the Rockets afloat. The Suns still built up a 22-15 lead, but Dillon Brooks captained a 7-2 scoring run to bring Phoenix’s lead down to just two.
From there, Green converted a tough and-one layup to give Houston its first lead of the night. Down the stretch, TyTy Washington—a former Rocket now playing for the Suns—haunted the team that drafted him by converting free throws and a pull up jumper to give Phoenix a 34-32 lead at the end of one.
Second quarter
The lead went back and forth between the teams as the second quarter got underway. Both squads used an early chunk of the period to sit their top scorers of the season, as Green and Durant rested during the first few minutes of action.
The Rockets gained a 45-40 advantage, but midrange jumpers by Bol Bol and Durant brought the Suns back within one. Green stifled Phoenix’s momentum on the very next possession, drilling a three-ball to bring Houston’s lead back up to four. The score was tied at 50 in the final minutes, but the Suns ended the stanza with a quick 7-1 run to take a 57-51 lead into the break.
Green was the Rockets’ leading scorer at the break with 14, and Durant led the Suns with 16.
Third quarter
Phoenix picked up where it left off early in the third, with the Suns’ lead quickly growing to 64-53. However, the double-digit deficit seemed to wake the Rockets up, as they instantly produced a 13-1 scoring run to take a 66-65 lead.
The squads kept trading the advantage, with everyone on the floor having seemingly no trouble finding the bucket. The Suns were the team to find separation in the final minutes of the period, as baskets by Collin Gillespie and Nick Richards fueled a 92-84 Phoenix lead heading into the fourth.
Fourth quarter
Rookie Reed Sheppard scored the first points of the quarter, when Thompson drove inside and found him wide open at the left wing for a triple.
Alperen Sengun took over on offense over the next several minutes, with a layup and two midrange jumpers. His dominance continued, as he then forced a steal on an errant pass and threw down a dunk on the other end. The very next Phoenix possession, Sheppard forced a steal and converted a fastbreak slam of his own, and the Rockets led 100-97 with just over seven minutes to play.
The Suns regained a 101-100 advantage, but Tari Eason threw down a thunderous dunk, forced a turnover, and converted a layup in transition to give Houston a fresh three-point cushion. That lead was short-lived though, as Durant swiftly found Bol for three on the other end.
Jalen Green scored a layup and a three to give Houston a five-point lead with three minutes left. Durant responded with a dunk, but Brooks splashed a pair of threes on back-to-back Rockets’ possessions to make the score 115-106 with 1:08 on the clock.
Durant gave Houston a brief moment of panic, scoring five rapid points and making it a two-possession game, but Houston converted at the line and did enough to secure a 119-111 victory.
