In a game that featured two of the hottest teams in the league, the Houston Rockets narrowly edged out the Charlotte Hornets thanks to a throwback performance from Kevin Durant.

Rockets Get Spotty Production on Offense in Win

Death, taxes, and Durant continue to get buckets are the only guarantees in life. Tonight, the Rockets needed every bit of Durant’s bucket-getting abilities to pull out the win. The former league MVP would finish with a game-high 35 points on a very efficient 14-of-20 shooting from the field, while also grabbing 8 rebounds in the game. That 35-point performance marked the highest scoring game for Durant in over a month, as he’s been in a bit of a scoring slump since the start of January.

In terms of the Rockets generating any sort of offense outside of Durant, it was slim pickings in that department, as only three other players finished in double figures. The only other player to finish with over 15 points for Houston was Jabari Smith Jr., who finished as the second leading scorer on offense for the Rockets tonight.

While Houston finished the game shooting 48% from the field, their three-point shooting will need to see some improvement as they shot just 28% from beyond the arc in the win.

Hornets Sloppy Play On Offense Costs Them a Potential Win

Although the Rockets would ultimately take home the win tonight, this game was very much a winnable one for the Hornets down the stretch. Unfortunately, a lack of ball security and poor shot selection would doom their chances at victory. Charlotte committed 16 turnovers and shot just 43% from the field in the loss. That 43% shooting for the Hornets seemed like a slight hiccup on offense for a team that has ranked in the top 5 in offensive efficiency over the past month.

Much of the offensive woes for Charlotte fell at the feet of star players such as LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, who shot a combined 10-of-36 from the floor to finish with 11 points and 17 points, respectively. This flat performance from Ball follows a controversial week for the former All-Star. He was involved in a car accident yesterday.

The one positive on offense was the continued impressive play of Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, who followed up his appearance in the three-point contest during All-Star weekend with another great, sharpshooting performance. The former Duke star finished with 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.

Houston Keeps Pace In the Western Conference Standings

After heading into the All-Star break winning 6 of their last 10 games, the Rockets continue to keep themselves near the top of the standings out West following their latest win tonight. The Rockets currently sit in 4th-place in the Western Conference, as they hold a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers, while also just trailing by one game behind the Denver Nuggets for 3rd-place.

For the Hornets, their climb out of the 10th-place position in the East will have to wait one more game, as they sit a game back of the Atlanta Hawks for the 9th spot. Charlotte has been arguably the hottest team in the NBA over the past three weeks, as they won 11 of their past 12 games before tonight’s game against Houston. That recent streak catapulted the Hornets from near the bottom of the league to a play-in position.