The Phoenix Suns came to the Houston Rockets game for the second night of a back-to-back. They just fought and won a hard one against the Oklahoma City Thunder. If that’s not exhausting enough, they also had to deal with delayed flight which according to Dillon Brooks somehow affected them.
The Suns and the Rockets dueled in a low-scoring affair that ended in three-pointer by Kevin Durant with 1.7 seconds left in the game.
KEVIN DURANT FOR THE WIN AGAINST HIS FORMER TEAM!!! 😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/cRSrjsXg4O
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 6, 2026
Brooks refused to blame the loss to the flight but he admits that it affected them somehow.
“It put us in a bind for sure. Our legs were a little stiff but stuff is going to happen in games,” he said per Duane Rankin of AZ Central.
“Happy how we fought. Wish it could’ve been in a W but we have another chance in a couple of days.”
Brooks scored 15 points in the loss and shot 1 out of 6 from the three point line.
Phoenix Suns-Rockets game marred by clock malfunctions
Suns coach Jordan Ott said before the game that they have to deal with the delayed flight.
“I’ve never arrived that late, but no excuses. We’ve got go out and play. No one cares,” he told reporters before the game.
He did not bring up that incident as something that played a part in the loss. What he had issues with were the shotclock and game clock that interrupted their momentum. He called them disruptive.
“Definitely disruptive.”
Jordan Ott on shot clock/game clock issues that created a long stoppage in between first and second quarter of Suns loss to Rockets.
“It actually didn’t hurt it. We were leading after all the chaos. Second half it was fine. Second night of a… pic.twitter.com/8yqme5Se6u
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 6, 2026
These stoppages started in the second quarter when the game clock, shot clock and scoreboard stopped working. Game announcer even had to announce the shotclock on the microphone at one point. It went on for minutes and players were forced to jog around to stay physically ready.
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