Tari Eason produced his second consecutive double-double off the bench, while Jabari Smith Jr. added his third double-double of the season as the Houston Rockets topped the Memphis Grizzlies 117-104 on Wednesday to extend their homecourt winning streak to 11 games.
Eason paired a career-high 25 points with a career-high-tying 14 rebounds to lead Houston to another dominating effort on the glass. With Smith totaling 20 points and 10 rebounds and Alperen Sengun grabbing 10 boards, the Rockets posted a 58-39 rebounding advantage.
Jaren Jackson Jr. also scored a career-high, but with 44 points, for the short-handed Grizzlies, who added leading scorer Desmond Bane (illness) to their long list of injured and infirmed. Derrick Rose tallied 19 points and six assists but Memphis shot only 42.7% and missed 28 of 38 3-pointers.
Despite leading by as many as 19 points, the Rockets clung to an 82-81 entering the fourth quarter. But Houston received a surprising contribution from veteran Jeff Green, initially listed as out, down the stretch, with Green posting nine points and three rebounds in the fourth.
Eason and Smith took that cue and combined for 16 points in the final period. Fred VanVleet chipped in 10 points and five assists in the fourth to help the Rockets pull away late.
The Grizzlies offset the Rockets’ fast start by converting six Houston turnovers into 10 points in the opening period. The Rockets darted to a 17-9 lead before cooling and starting their game-long struggles defending Jackson, whose 3 with 2:57 left cut the deficit to 23-20.
Houston turned an 18-7 run into its biggest lead of the first half, 53-34, with Eason following a pair of Memphis turnovers with transition dunks during the surge. But the Grizzlies didn’t fade, answering with a 10-1 run keyed by a Jackson three-point play and capped by a Rose 17-footer.
Jackson and Rose combined for 23 points in the first half for Memphis, but the Rockets carried a 57-43 lead into the intermission after Smith closed the scoring with a three-point play. He and Eason matched Jackson and Rose with 23 first-half points, with Smith drilling 3 of 4 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media