Fred VanVleet scored a game-high 38 points and Dillon Brooks hit a mid-range jump shot to beat the shot clock and give Houston the lead for good as the host Rockets cruised to a 119-116 victory in a matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday the two top seeds in the Western Conference.

VanVleet sank four free throws in the final 4.6 seconds as the Rockets evened the season series to one game apiece and moved to within a half-game of the Thunder at the top of the West. Brooks’ jumper capped a wild scramble with 33.6 seconds left, giving the Rockets a 115-113 lead.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points, while Jalen Williams added 22 points, including a 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left that cut the deficit to one. Isaiah Hartenstein added a double-double (19 points, 13 rebounds) while Cason Wallace scored 14 points, including two 3-pointers to set up VanVleet’s Match 3 in the frantic final moments.

There were seven ties in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets, who trailed 93-85 late in the third quarter after Gilgeous-Alexander led a 16-4 run, took the lead for the first time in the fourth quarter when VanVleet Scored an overwhelming 3-1 with 1:29 left. Wallace responded with a corner 3, but the Rockets answered repeatedly.

Alperen Sengun (20 points, 14 rebounds) and Jabari Smith Jr. (15 points, 14 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Houston. Sengun added nine assists, including on Brooks’ late jumper.

Aaron Wiggins scored 13 points off the Thunder bench.

The Rockets used their prowess on the offensive glass to erase an early five-point deficit, with Amen Thompson’s second-chance basket making it a 22-18 lead at 3:38 of the first period. Behind Brooks’ 10 points, the Rockets led by eight before Gilgeous-Alexander answered a three-pointer from Tari Eason with one of his own, cutting the deficit to 33-28 early in the second period.

The Thunder used a flurry of three-pointers to respond to a three-point play by Jalen Green that gave Houston its largest lead, 45-34, with 7:58 left in the half. Kenrich Williams and Luguentz Dort drilled back-to-back 3s to secure the comeback before Wiggins and Gilgeous-Alexander sank consecutive 3s to cut the lead to four, which the Thunder narrowed to 62-60 at halftime.

–Field level media