Jalen Green, Rockets hold off pesky Hawks

Jalen Green scored 25 points as the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to four games with a 100-96 win over the host Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.

Alperen Sengun posted 18 points and 10 rebounds while Jae'Sean Tate came off the bench to add a season-high 16 points for Houston.

Trae Young had 21 points and nine assists, reserve De'Andre Hunter scored 16 points and Dyson Daniels paired 12 points with 10 boards for the Hawks, who rallied late before falling for the sixth straight game.

The Rockets looked like they had the victory all locked up when they led by 16 points inside the final five minutes of the contest, but Daniels led the way during a 16-2 run to help the Hawks draw within 98-96 with 46.9 seconds to go.

Daniels ended that burst with a free throw. Before he went to the line, a frustrated Dillon Brooks grabbed Young's neck, leading to a double technical between him and the Hawks star guard for heated verbal exchanges.

Hunter missed a wide-open 3-point attempt with 12.9 seconds remaining that would have given the Hawks the lead, and Sengun closed the scoring with a dunk.

The Rockets took an 82-73 lead into the fourth quarter, where they eventually saw the advantage grow to 96-80 thanks to a Green layup with 5:16 to go. Hunter connected on a triple 36 seconds later to ignite the run that almost brought Atlanta all the way back.

It was Houston that got off to a fast start, going up 7-2 before the Hawks rattled off 14 unanswered points. Atlanta led 27-22 after 12 minutes of action.

Green then came to life in the second quarter, scoring the Rockets' first nine points of the period. Houston led by as many as five in the frame but trailed 50-49 at the break after the hosts put up seven of the final nine points of the first half.

--Field Level Media