Atlanta Hawks of USA sensation, Onyeka Okongwu was again in the highlights at the weekend, as he put up a stunning performance that fetched him his 600th career assist, but his side fell at the feet of Houston Rockets.
Sports247 reports that Kevin Durant scored 25 points, Jabari Smith Jnr added 23 and The Rockets snapped Okongwu’s team’s 11-game winning streak with a 117-95 victory in Houston, Texas.
Okongwu had three assists on the night, including the 600th of his career, but the lad, who is currently averaging 3.2 assists per game this season, the most of his career, fell short, as The Rockets outrebounded The Hawks 51-37.
Alperen Sengun had 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Houston, who were just 4-6 in their previous 10 games and coming off back-to-back losses to Los Angeles Lakers, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta with 21 points.
Despite Okongwu’s assists, The Hawks shot just 42% from the field and 26% (9 for 35) from 3-point range, while Houston shot 51% overall and 47% (14 of 30) from deep; with CJ McCollum on 17 points and Zaccharie Risacher 16 for Atlanta.
Before the game, Okongwu’s side had their longest winning streak in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA) for over a decade, which had positioned the team for a play-in berth.
They will now hope to rebound with more heroics from Okongwu, who earlier in the year took a nasty elbow from Jaylen Brown and suffered a dental fracture, with a loss of some teeth, in The Hawks’ win over Boston Celtics.
That, though, did not slow down Okongwu, who first shot into the spotlight when he helped Chino Hills High School win the state championship and achieve national success, while being named MaxPreps co-National Freshman of The Year.
