The Houston Rockets have been reeling as of late, having lost three consecutive games, all of which came against sub-.500 teams. This made their Tuesday night clash against the Chicago Bulls at home all the more important. However, like most of their past few games, this contest against the Bulls was a slugfest, with both teams trading blows.
But in the end, it was the Rockets that came out on top, 119-113, with Kevin Durant leading the way with a team-high 28 points. Durant has been very reliable for Houston this season; in fact, one could argue that they've been overly reliant on the 37-year-old forward. But he did make the basket that pushed momentum solely towards the Rockets' favor.
Down one, 104-103, with a little over three minutes left in the ballgame, Durant got the step on Matas Buzelis on an aggressive closeout from deep three-point range. With the Bulls having no rim protectors on the court, the Rockets star went up for an emphatic tomahawk jam to regain the lead.
KEVIN DURANT WAKES THE CROWD UP WITH A JAM 💥pic.twitter.com/qN9aOxVoDQ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 14, 2026
Following Durant's dunk, Jabari Smith Jr. drilled a triple to give the Rockets the lead for good. But without this dunk from the future Hall of Famer to fire up the Toyota Center crowd, Houston may have ended up faltering in the end the way they did these past few games.
Article Continues Below
Rockets get key contributions from unsung heroes to earn win over Bulls
Rockets guard JD Davison (4) shoots
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The Rockets have been dealing with injury problems all season long. Fred VanVleet tore his ACL before the season began, Tari Eason has been dealing with recurring woes, while the likes of Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela have shuttled in and out of the lineup due to injuries.
On Tuesday night, the Rockets got a major boost from JD Davison, the fourth-year guard out of Alabama. He scored nine important points and Houston outscored Chicago by 14 in his 25 minutes.