Durant scores 31, Sheppard's 11-point flurry helps Rockets end Nuggets' 6-game win streak, 115-101

DENVER (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Reed Sheppard scored the final 11 points of the third quarter to blow open a close game, and the Houston Rockets rolled past the Denver Nuggets 115-101 on Saturday.

Sheppard was 6 for 9 from long range and scored 28 points. His last bucket came on a steal and a slam after the Nuggets reserves had trimmed a 21-point deficit to 107-97 in the closing minutes.

The Rockets avenged a loss earlier in the week at Denver and snapped the Nuggets' six-game winning streak. Durant was 5 for 6 from 3-point range and Jabari Smith was 5 for 11 from long range for 22 points.

The Rockets shot 19 of 35 from long range (54%) to Denver’s 8 of 29 (27%).

Nikola Jokic led Denver with 25 points and Jamal Murray scored 16.

Denver coach Dave Adelman was ejected with 8:40 left in the game after arguing that Jokic should have gotten a whistle.

The Nuggets had pulled to within 71-66 with 1:29 left in the third quarter when Sheppard swished a pair of 3-pointers around a turnover by Murray. He sank two free throws and capped his run with another 3-pointer that gave the Rockets an 82-66 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Little went right for Denver, which was without star defender Peyton Watson (right trunk bruise) to guard Durant.

The rematch came three days after Rockets coach Ime Udoka was fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing the officiating in Houston’s 128-125 overtime loss to the Nuggets on Monday night.

He had little to complain about in this one, especially after Sheppard's 3s short-circuited Denver's comeback.

The Rockets took a 53-45 halftime lead after Josh Okogie hit a trio of 3-pointers, fueling an 11-0 run in the second quarter that helped Houston take control.

Rockets: Visit the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.

Nuggets: Host the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

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

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, right, looks to shoot for a basket over Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (12) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, drives past Houston Rockets guard Josh Okogie, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, left, looks to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, center, look to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Spencer Jones and center Nikola Jokić defend in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

World War II Navy veteran Ira “Ike” Schab, one of the dwindling number of survivors of the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 105.

Daughter Kimberlee Heinrichs told The Associated Press that Schab died at home early Saturday in the presence of her and her husband.

With his passing, there remain only about a dozen survivors of the surprise attack, which killed just over 2,400 troops and propelled the United States into the war.

Schab was a sailor of just 21 at the time of the attack, and for decades he rarely spoke about the experience.

But in recent years, aware that the corps of survivors was dwindling, the centenarian made a point of traveling from his home in Beaverton, Oregon, to the annual observance at the Hawaii military base.

“To pay honor to the guys that didn’t make it,” he said in 2023.

For last year's commemoration, Schab spent weeks building up the strength to be able to stand and salute.

But this year he did not feel well enough to attend, and less than three weeks later, he passed away.

Born on Independence Day in 1920 in Chicago, Schab was the eldest of three brothers.

He joined the Navy at 18, following in the footsteps of his father, he said in a February interview for Pacific Historic Parks.

On what began as a peaceful Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, Schab, who played the tuba in the USS Dobbin’s band, was expecting a visit from his brother, a fellow service member assigned to a nearby naval radio station. Schab had just showered and donned a clean uniform when he heard a call for fire rescue.

He went topside and saw another ship, the USS Utah, capsizing. Japanese planes roared through the air.

“We were pretty startled. Startled and scared to death,” Schab recalled in 2023. “We didn’t know what to expect, and we knew that if anything happened to us, that would be it.”

He scurried back below deck to grab boxes of ammunition and joined a daisy chain of sailors feeding shells to an anti-aircraft gun above.

His ship lost three sailors, according to Navy records. One was killed in action, and two died later of fragment wounds from a bomb that struck the stern. All had been manning an anti-aircraft gun.

Schab spent most of the war with the Navy in the Pacific, going to the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, and then the Mariana Islands and Okinawa, Japan.

After the war he studied aerospace engineering and worked on the Apollo spaceflight program as an electrical engineer for General Dynamics, helping send astronauts to the moon.

Schab's son also joined the Navy and is a retired commander.

Speaking at a 2022 ceremony, Schab asked people to honor those who served at Pearl Harbor.

“Remember what they’re here for. Remember and honor those that are left. They did a hell of a job,” he said. “Those who are still here, dead or alive.”

FILE - Pearl Harbor survivor Ira Schab, right, is saluted by various members of the armed forces as he leaves the 75th Anniversary National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration on Kilo Pier at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner, File)

FILE - Ira Schab, right, who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor as a sailor on the USS Dobbin, talks with reporters while sitting next to his son, retired Navy Cmdr. Karl Schab, on Dec. 7, 2022, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy, File)

FILE - An attendee asks Pearl Harbor survivor Ira "Ike" Schab, 103, to sign an U.S. flag during the 82nd Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)