Adam Spolane

Alperen Sengun scored 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting through the game’s first three quarters, but when Kyle Kuzma’s finger roll with 7:26 left to play whittled the Rockets 16-point lead down to six, Sengun took over.

With the Rockets trailing by three in the waning seconds on Saturday night, Fred VanVleet tried to draw foul from Blazers forward Toumani Camara while attempting a game-tying three, only to be denied by all three officials.

The Rockets and Thunder will meet for a second time this season on Sunday inside Toyota Center, in a game that will feature the top two teams in the Western Conference through the end of November.

Behind Fred VanVleet’s 38 points, the Rockets beat the Thunder 119-116 Sunday night at Toyota. A little more than a quarter of the way through the season, the Rockets are 15-6, just a half game back of Oklahoma City for first place in the West.

The trash talk inside the Rockets locker room started long before Ohio State beat Tennessee to setup a Rose Bowl matchup with Oregon on New Year’s Day.

Amen Thompson, who is averaging 12 points and seven rebounds in his second NBA season, will miss games against the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics this week, but he is the only Rocket to garner a suspension from Sunday’s altercation.

The longest tenured Rocket has had a renaissance of sorts over the last three weeks. After playing sparingly the first 27 games of the season, Jae’Sean Tate has played at least 15 minutes in 10 of the last 11 games.

The Rockets scored 61 points on 49 percent shooting while connecting on 8-of-18 three-pointers through the game’s first 24 minutes, but allowing 10 second chance points to go with 10 turnovers allowed the Cavs to stay within arm’s reach.

The Astros have not brought up a position change with Jose Altuve, but the nine-time All-Star said Saturday he’ll play wherever the team needs him to play if it means he gets to remain teammates with Alex Bregman.

The Rockets are 2nd in the West, on a 57-win pace with the NBA’s February 6 trade deadline fast approaching. Back in December, GM Rafael Stone told NBA SiriusXM Radio that he does not “intend to change anything”, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.