The Houston Rockets tightened their grip on the Western Conference race Wednesday night, edging the Charlotte Hornets 105 to 101 behind a composed late push and another clinical finish from Kevin Durant.
Houston improved to 34 to 20, steady on the road at 16 to 13, after overturning an early 11-point deficit at Spectrum Center. Charlotte, which had surged into the break winning 11 of 12, slipped to 26 to 30.
Durant poured in 35 points, scoring 10 in the fourth quarter and sealing the result with two free throws with 3.2 seconds left. He added eight rebounds and four assists in 36 controlled minutes.
Alperen Şengün supplied the glue. The Turkish center finished with 13 points and seven assists, but his imprint came in a sharp fourth-quarter sequence.
A spinning reverse layup over rookie seven-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner was followed by a soft hook that stretched the margin to 95 to 84 with five minutes remaining.
Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points, Reed Sheppard scored 13 and Amen Thompson chipped in nine as Houston’s supporting cast matched Charlotte’s physical start.
The Hornets were led by Grant Williams with 20 points, while Brandon Miller had 17 but struggled from deep at 1 of 12. LaMelo Ball posted 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists less than 24 hours after a minor car accident in downtown Charlotte.
Charlotte led 33 to 24 after one and by 11 in the second quarter before Houston responded with a 29 to 19 burst to trail by one at halftime. The Rockets inched ahead in the third and then absorbed a late Hornets rally that featured three pointers from rookie Kon Knueppel.
At Xfinity Mobile Arena, the Atlanta Hawks cooled off the Philadelphia 76ers 117 to 107, handing them a third loss to Atlanta this season.
Philadelphia, without Joel Embiid due to right shin soreness, fell to 30 to 25. Atlanta moved to 27 to 30 and snapped a three-game skid.
Jalen Johnson dominated with 32 points and 10 rebounds, living at the line at 14 of 16. CJ McCollum added 23 points and Dyson Daniels 15 as the Hawks closed on a decisive 9 to 3 run.
Tyrese Maxey paced Philadelphia with 28 points. Rookie VJ Edgecombe added 20 and Kelly Oubre Jr. 17. Andre Drummond delivered a 10-point, 14 rebound double double.
Turkish prospect Adem Bona provided energy off the bench with nine points, seven rebounds and four blocks in just under 20 minutes, but the 76ers could not fully recover from an 11-point fourth quarter gap. They trimmed it to four with under three minutes left before Atlanta shut the door at the stripe.
