HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 25 points and 14 rebounds and the Houston Rockets cruised to a 109-97 win over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

Houston led by 15 points early before the Knicks got within one point late in the fourth quarter. But Sengun, guarded by Karl-Anthony Towns, scored 10 points in the final period and helped the Rockets put the ball away.

Fred VanVleet added 19 points for Houston and Jalen Green had 15.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points and OG Anunoby added 21. Towns had 17 points and a season-high 19 rebounds.

Takeaways

Knicks: New York needs to do a better job with Towns scoring inside. The Knicks outscored the team 62-38 as their two-game winning streak was snapped.

Rockets: Houston did a good job of getting multiple players involved offensively. Four starters finished in double figures and Amen Thompson scored 12 points off the bench. But they need to find a way to be more consistent during games. They blew a double-digit lead on Monday before pulling away late, a game after falling behind by 31 points early before losing to the Warriors in an overtime game on Saturday night.

Key moment

The Rockets led by three before a rushing, two-handed dunk from Thompson followed by a 3 from Green with under a minute left made the score 105-97.

Key statistics

The Rockets won despite making just 8 of 33 3-point shots. Green started 0-for-6 and was 2 of 8 and VanVleet and Jabari Smith Jr. each made just 1 of 5 attempts.

Next

The Knicks visit the Hawks on Wednesday night and the Rockets host the Spurs that evening.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba