Durant reaches 31,000 career points as Rockets dominate Suns

HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant had 28 points to become the eighth player in NBA history to score 31,000 career points as the Houston Rockets rolled to a 117-98 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

It was Durant's first game against his former team since a blockbuster seven-team trade that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns. Durant missed Houston's 114-92 win at Phoenix on Nov. 24 for personal reasons.

Amen Thompson scored a season-high 31 to help the Rockets to their fifth victory in six games.

Durant made two free throws for his first points of the night and hit jumper midway through the first quarter that gave the 15-time All-Star to reach the historic milestone. Durant, who didn't play in the fourth quarter, has 31,024 career points.

The Rockets trailed by as many as nine early but used a 44-point second quarter, powered by 17 points from Durant, to take the lead.

Houston was up by 11 with about 7 ½ minutes left in the third before using a 16-2 run to make it 92-67 with about two minutes left in the quarter. Thompson had six points in that stretch and Durant and Reed Sheppard both made 3-pointers for Houston. Phoenix had five turnovers during the spurt.

Brooks had 23 points to lead the Suns, who lost for the third time in four games.

Houston played without Alperen Sengun, who missed the game with an illness. Steven Adams started in his place and had four points and eight rebounds.

The Rockets played a tribute video for Brooks during pregame introductions and played one for Green, who is out due to a hamstring injury, between the first and second quarters. Both players received hearty ovations from the crowd at the end of their videos.

Green spent his first four seasons in Houston after being taken second overall by the club in the 2021 draft and Brooks spent the previous two seasons with the Rockets.

Suns: Visit the Timberwolves Monday night.

Rockets: Visit the Mavericks Saturday night.

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

Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) waves after a tribute video played before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green waves after a tribute video plays during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) celebrates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) shoots against Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant celebrates during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns in Houston, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans’ mayor-elect said Friday that a federal immigration crackdown launched this week is already causing harm as encounters between masked agents and residents, including some caught on video, has prompted public backlash in the blue city.

Frustrated city officials pointed to the case of Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was walking back to her Louisiana home from a trip to the grocery store on Wednesday when a truck pulled up beside her and two masked federal agents approached her, according to security footage obtained by The Associated Press.

Guzman began running away as a second vehicle arrived and the agents pursued her down the sidewalk until she reached her family's home in Marrero, a neighborhood across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans. Guzman's mother has lived there her entire life.

“We’re legal, we are from here, born and raised,” Guzman shouted back at the agents. “Don’t chase me, that is disgusting.”

Guzman, who has no criminal record, told the AP that she panicked when agents approached.

“That was my only thought that they were going to take me and I wasn’t going to get to have a say in that decision,” Guzman said. “Because most likely they didn’t care that I was saying I was a U.S. citizen. So why would they care what else I had to say?”

Several hundred agents under Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino have converged on Southeast Louisiana this week as part of an immigration enforcement operation seeking to arrest 5,000 people. The Department of Homeland Security has touted dozens of arrests with only limited details released. Many Hispanic residents have said they feel their community is at risk of being abused or detained by agents regardless of their legal status.

Alongside city council members, Democratic Congressman Troy Carter, Hispanic leaders and civil rights advocates, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno expressed “deep concern over recent actions” by federal agents. She said the operation is causing harm — forcing businesses to shutter and workers to stay home out of fear of mass arrests.

While federal officials have repeatedly said the goal of the operation is to target dangerous criminals who entered the country illegally, Moreno argued “that does not appear to be the case.”

Moreno said she is asking for regular public briefings from federal agencies, which she asks includes data on the stops, detentions, charges, warrants, outcomes and if any of the people detained have violent criminal histories.

“Without this full visibility into these enforcement actions, it is impossible to determine whether this particular operation is actually targeting the most dangerous offenders,” Moreno said.

Guzman’s stepfather, Juan Anglin, said he understood federal agents had a job to do but believed they were going about it in the wrong way.

Anglin heard his stepdaughter screaming outside and went out to confront the agents. He told the AP that Guzman ran from the agents because she was a young woman surrounded by aggressive masked men.

“I thought she was going to be kidnapped, honestly,” Anglin said. “I thought somebody was going to hurt her."

In response to the incident, the Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol had been searching for a “criminal illegal alien previously charged with felony theft and convicted of illegal possession of stolen property.”

DHS said the agents “encountered a female matching the description of the target” and that agents “identified themselves" and left when they realized Guzman was not who they were seeking.

Anglin disputes the government's narrative and says she was stopped solely because of her appearance.

“Just because you look brown, you look Hispanic, you're going to get stopped,” he said. “Because now it doesn’t matter if you have papers, you speak English or you are a citizen, it’s not enough."

Sara Cline contributed reporting from Baton Rouge.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Juan Anglin, who watched federal agents chase his step-daughter Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, as she was walking on the sidewalk, stands outside his home in Marrero, La., Thursday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)