Tug of war! The Rockets led by 13 points but were chased down: Amen had 12 points and 5 assists, and the substitutes hit 4 three-pointers.

On November 25, the NBA regular season continued, and the Rockets challenged the Suns away from home. Durant was absent in this game, and the two teams were involved in a tug-of-war, but the Rockets blossomed inside and outside afterwards. Holiday, who came on the bench, hit three consecutive three-pointers to help the team take the initiative and take a 7-point lead in the first quarter. The Rockets once established a 13-point lead in the second quarter, but the Suns then launched a counterattack to narrow the gap. Fortunately, Smith hit a three-pointer and led the Suns 59-50 at halftime.

For this game, the Rockets' starting lineup was passively adjusted. Sheppard started for the first time in the season, and the other four players were Amen, Okogie, Smith and Shen Jing. The two teams fell into a tug-of-war. Booker hit a three-pointer, and the Rockets scored consecutive points. Shen Jing hit a three-pointer, and Amen scored from the basket. The Rockets took a 15-12 lead in the first timeout. Booker hit a three-pointer to equalize, Holiday also scored a three-pointer, Booker scored a single point, and the Suns caught up with the score. Amen cut and dunked, Adams made a tip-in, Gillespie hit a three-pointer, but Holiday then hit two consecutive three-pointers to help the Rockets take the initiative and lead the Suns 30-23 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Davison also scored a three-pointer. Gillespie stopped the bleeding with a jumper. Smith scored 2+1 to take a double-digit lead. After that, O'Neal hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding, and the Suns scored consecutive points to close the point difference. But then Holiday hit a three-pointer, Sheppard completed steals one after another, and the Rockets once again widened the point difference and stopped the Suns. Then Dillon knocked down Adams under the basket, but the referee's replay did not upgrade. After that, the Rockets once took a 13-point lead, but the Suns once again made efforts to chase points. Fortunately, Smith hit a three-pointer and Amen broke through and scored to help the team stabilize the situation. The Suns led the Suns 59-50 at halftime.

Without Durant, the Rockets performed well in the first half. Three players scored in double figures. Amen scored 12 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Shen Jing scored 10 points. Shepard scored 4 points and 4 assists on 1 of 6 starts. There was a surprise player on the bench. Holiday scored 12 points on 4 of 7 three-pointers.

The Suns' Dillon faced his old team and scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shots; Gillespie scored 13 points.