Australian teen prima Josh Giddey had the hoops satellite marvelling astatine his passing quality contiguous arsenic Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Houston Rockets 101-89.
Giddey helped the Thunder with 14 points connected 50 per cent shooting portion besides adding 11 rebounds to his stat sheet.
Oklahoma City besides had large contributions from Luguentz Dort (34 points) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (15 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds).
But arsenic fans person started to get utilized to this season, Giddey's tribunal imaginativeness and passing quality continued to basal out.
During the 3rd quarter, 1 infinitesimal successful peculiar near hoops fans purring arsenic Giddey recovered Jeremiah Robinson-Earl nether the handbasket with a walk that fooled the Rockets' defence.
The 19-year-old credited Oklahoma City's level spacing down his caller playmaking success, which helium suggested wasn't what it was during his tenure successful the NBL with Adelaide.
After the crippled helium said: "The spacing connected the level has allowed maine to marque passes that past twelvemonth I wasn't allowed to make."
The Thunder opened the crippled up precocious successful the 2nd 4th to instrumentality a 53-41 pb astatine the break.
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Giddey scored six consecutive points connected 3 baskets to enactment the Thunder up 65-52 aboriginal successful the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma City led 80-64 heading into the fourth.
The Rockets scored the archetypal 7 points of the last 4th to chopped Oklahoma City's pb to azygous digits.
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Houston trimmed the Thunder pb to 7 earlier Dort deed a 3 arsenic the changeable timepiece expired to propulsion the pb backmost to 10 with conscionable nether 7 minutes to play. Dort's one-handed putback dunk with astir 2 minutes to play enactment the Thunder up 97-87.
- with AP
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