Oklahoma City outscored RGV in overtime en route to a 128-126 victory over the Vipers on Wednesday afternoon at the Paycom Center.
Houston Rockets rookie, and the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Amen Thompson returned to the court after missing more than a month with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain. The Rockets announced Tuesday that Thompson would begin his return process while being assigned to the Vipers, the Rockets’ G League affiliate.
The Rockets also assigned their second first-round pick, Cam Whitmore and two-way players Jermaine Samuels Jr. and Nate Hinton to the Vipers.
Thompson was injured during the Rockets’ fourth game of the season. Up to that point, he was averaging 6.3 points (40.9% FG) and 2.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes for Houston.
Thompson made quite the impressive G League debut Wednesday with a triple-double. He led the Vipers with 29 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. The 20-year-old also registered three steals and a pair of blocked shots.
Whitmore added 28 points and was 7-for-14 from 3-point land. He and Samuels each had four steals and Samuels added 25 points as the Vipers dropped to 6-4 in the South Conference, tied with Osceola and a half gave behind conference leaders Mexico City and Oklahoma City.
The Blue held a 71-56 halftime lead and 100-88 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Jarrett Culver and Darius Days each scored 14 points for the Vipers and Nate Hinton tallied 10 to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
The Vipers shot 42% from the floor while the Blue converted on 54% of their attempts.
Six Oklahoma City players scored 16 or more points led by Jaden Shackelford with 23 points and eight assists. Hunter Maldonado and Caleb McConnell each scored 21 points and McConnell added nine rebounds. KJ Williams scored 17 and had 11 rebounds for OKC.
The Vipers have two losses by just two points this year and return to action Friday and Saturday at Birmingham.
