Oklahoma City Falls at Home to Houston in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Absence

The Thunder dropped their 22nd game on the season on Wednesday night versus the Rockets.

On a night without both teams' heavy-hitting scorers, the losses canceled out to create a neck-and-neck contest with Western Conference placement implications.

No Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, no Alperen Sengun – Houston maintained a sense of urgency on a nine-game winning streak versus Oklahoma City on Wednesday evening in these teams' final meeting of the season.

And without its superstar guard, the Thunder were not able to cool the red-hot Rockets off, losing 132-126 inside Paycom Center to drop to 50-22 on the season.

Josh Giddey continued his strong month of March to anchor the Thunder, posting another 20-plus point outing and his first 30-plus point outing on the season with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting and seven rebounds alongside some essential scores at the close of the game.

Isaiah Joe also had an exceptional night in the loss, generating a season-high in assists with six alongside his 17 points with four threes.

Aaron Wiggins' presence off the bench was immense too, having 16 points on an efficient 7-of-9 from the field.

For Houston, Jalen Green provided a 37-point, nine-rebound, six-assist performance with seven threes in the absence of Sengun to secure their victory.

From the tip, there was little to no rhythm or excitement from Oklahoma City.

A physical Houston team put it on them early, forcing the Thunder to bend and holding them without a made field goal for half of the quarter, as the Rockets had already mounted a 12-point lead before that.

Some much-needed energy from Gordon Hayward helped Oklahoma City stay the course and weather its Gilgeous-Alexander-less first quarter, as missing his typical double-digit start to the game hindered their scoring ability early.

The Thunder would get it back to within six, but a strong frame from virtually every Rocket on the floor maintained a lead of 11 for Houston by the end of the quarter.

Jalen Williams' playmaking came into the equation to begin the second, as he'd get his hand print on the game in the scoring and assist department. And what was a hum-drum first frame for the Thunder all but suddenly turned into a crowd full of excitement and awe, as 6-foot-3 Joe rose over Jeff Green with a left-hand hammer for one of the best dunks of the Thunder's season.

One of the most effective ways to electrify an offense and get the crowd engaged, Joe's jam seeped into his whole second-quarter performance. A step-back jumper from the elbow, two threes, one of which gave the Thunder its first lead of the night with four minutes to go in the half, he was the player to help Oklahoma City break out of its lagging start.

Despite a tough offensive half on most accounts, the Thunder still managed a one-point advantage by the end of the second quarter.

Throughout the third, hot hands switched from Williams at the start with several jumpers into Giddey continuing to hold his hot streak. Giddey's string of buckets extended Oklahoma City's lead to as much as eight before Jalen Green's began to stack.

His efforts would get them back to within three, and five by the end of the quarter, even through the Thunder's 35-point quarter – with the score at 85-80 heading into the final frame.

The fourth was as tight-knit as it had been all game down the stretch, with Oklahoma City relinquishing an eight-point lead deep into the quarter. Fred VanVleet, Jock Vandale and Amen Thompson helped curate the run and erase the Thunder lead, as Green continued to anchor them.

But absolutely massive baskets from Giddey in the game's final minutes kept them at bay until Jabari Smith Jr. hit arguably the biggest shot of the game to trump the Thunder – sinking a set-shot three in the corner off the catch to take a two-point lead with less than 10 seconds to go.

With a free throw trip for Thompson shortly after an Oklahoma City miss, he'd bring the Rockets up by three in the final seconds.

Then, the fourth-quarter freak in Williams came out again, hitting a three out of the timeout to tie the game with under five seconds left, trumping Smith Jr. himself and taking the crown as biggest shot of the game.

Following was a layup in a golden opportunity from Green to beat the buzzer, but it wouldn't fall and the game would go into overtime.

A great amount of offense occurred in overtime, with Houston sinking several threes out the gate while Oklahoma City retaliated themselves.

But Green's scoring burst and the Rockets' 20 points in overtime was the Thunder's demise.

Next, Oklahoma City will take on the Pheonix Suns at 7 p.m. CT on Friday insde Paycom Center.

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