Houston Rockets beat Atlanta Hawks 121-114 as Kevin Durant scores 22 and Houston starts 3-0

The Houston Rockets stayed perfect on Saturday, October 24, beating the Atlanta Hawks 121-114 at State Farm Arena behind 22 points from Kevin Durant. Houston led for more than 42 minutes, built a 20-point cushion and then held on after Atlanta cut it to five in the closing minutes. At 3-0, the Rockets are off to their best start since the 2017-18 season, while the Hawks fell to 2-1 in their first home game of the year.

Durant made 8 of 15 shots, including three threes, and was a plus-19. Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason scored 19 apiece, Amen Thompson had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double, and Alperen Sengun added 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Jabari Smith Jr. (14) and Bogdan Bogdanović (11) made it seven Rockets in double figures.

Game Center: Rockets at Hawks, box score and play-by-play

Where Houston won it

The Rockets were in front 30-26 after the first quarter and pushed the margin to 59-48 at halftime, holding Atlanta to 22 points in the second quarter while the Hawks struggled badly from deep. Atlanta finished 13-of-48 from three-point range, 27 percent, and that cold shooting kept Houston comfortable even when the Hawks matched them over the second half.

Sheppard’s night turned after a slow start. He missed five of his first six shots, then found his range and finished 5-of-11 from three with six rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes. Bogdanović hit three threes off the bench, the last of them part of a closing stretch that gave Houston a 92-81 lead after three quarters.

The second chances mattered too. Houston grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, turning them into 22 second-chance points, and made 21 of 23 free throws while Atlanta went 15-of-21.

Jalen Johnson’s big night falls short

Jalen Johnson did almost everything for Atlanta, finishing with 26 points, nine rebounds and 16 assists, which matched his career high for assists. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels scored 18 each, CJ McCollum had 17, and Aaron Wiggins, playing his first home game for the Hawks since his summer trade from Oklahoma City, added 16 off the bench.

The Hawks outscored Houston 33-29 in the fourth quarter and got within five late, but Durant went to the line with 18.9 seconds left and made both free throws to push the lead back to three possessions. Atlanta’s 34 assists on 43 baskets showed how well the ball moved; the missed threes were the difference.

The win capped a demanding stretch for Houston, which came to Atlanta a night after Amen Thompson’s last-second block on Victor Wembanyama sealed a 114-110 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Austin. The Hawks, meanwhile, had opened with two road wins, including a 128-81 rout of the Charlotte Hornets that was the largest victory in franchise history, so Saturday was their first real test in front of their own crowd.

What comes next

The same two teams meet again right away in the second half of a home-and-home. The Hawks visit the Rockets at Toyota Center on Monday, October 26, at 8:30 p.m. ET (Game Center).