March 2, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, United States; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) shoots the ball past Washington Wizards forward Justin Champaney (9) in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Image Alperen Sengun scored 32 points, Kevin Durant had 30 and the visiting Houston Rockets defeated the Washington Wizards 123-118 on Monday night.
Houston never fell behind after the second quarter in a game that became aggressive in the second half.
Bilal Koulibaly led the Wizards with a season-high 23 points and five 3-pointers, and the Wizards have now lost five in a row. Sharif Cooper scored 21 goals off the bench for Washington in 17 minutes.
The Wizards again played without leading scorer Alex Sarr and Jabari Smith Jr. missed his second straight game for Houston.
Amen Thompson had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Houston and Reed Shepherd added 19 points to go with 10 assists. Houston beat Washington 59-27, with Sengun scoring a game-high 13 points and 62 points compared to the Wizards’ 40.
Before the game, former All-Star Trae Young announced on Instagram that he would make his Wizards debut Thursday night at home against the Jazz. But Young wasn’t there to watch the game end Monday night.
Midway through the third quarter with Houston leading 90-73, Tari Eason pushed Wizards forward Jamir Watkins to the floor as the Rockets prepared to attack. After the Rockets’ Aaron Holiday made a basket, Eason pushed Watkins back to the floor and the two teams went in opposite directions.
Eason was ejected after receiving two technical fouls, and Young, who has not yet played in Washington after being traded from Atlanta, was also ejected from the game for leaving the bench.
Washington took an 11-point lead with 4 minutes and 17 seconds left in the game, but Houston had all the answers. Durant made three free throws after committing a foul. Sengun scored once on a putback to make it 116-102 with three minutes to play.
Durant, whose mother was sitting in the front row, received a technical foul with 29 seconds left for pushing a Wizards player out of bounds. Washington scored the final eight points of the game.
Washington gave up eight 3-pointers and took a 30-26 lead by the end of the first quarter. They shot 19-for-35 from 3-point range.
Julian Reese, brother of WNBA star Angel Reese, made his Wizards debut as a starter at center. Reese scored once in the third quarter and added four rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes before fouling out with 4:17 left.
Houston won its 7th game in a row against Washington.
–Field level media
