Milwaukee hampers Zion, turns back New Orleans
NBA
BUCKS 120, PELICANS 108
NEW ORLEANS — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 17 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 120-108 on Tuesday night.
Khris Middleton scored 20 for the Bucks, who led by 19 in the third quarter before holding off a Pelicans rally in the fourth.
Brandon Ingram scored 32 points and Zion Williamson had 20 for the Pelicans, who briefly got as close as seven twice in the fourth period before the Bucks stemmed the tide and improved to 20-4 away from home this season.
Milwaukee defended Williamson aggressively, constantly rejecting or fouling him with multiple defenders and often knocking him to the floor. Williamson was 5-of-18 shooting, and New Orleans was minus-11 with its rookie sensation on the court.
But Williamson still managed to assert himself early in the fourth quarter.
His off-balance floater as he lunged across the lane trimmed the Bucks’ lead to 103-96 with 9:26 to go.
Later, Williamson ripped a rebound away from Antetokounmpo under the Milwaukee basket, drew a foul and hit two free throws to cut it to 107-100.
But the Bucks responded with Brook Lopez’s layup and Wesley Matthews’ fifth three-pointer of the game to push their advantage back to 12.
While Antetokounmpo and Middleton spearheaded Milwaukee’s offense with decisive moves toward or around the basket, Matthews demoralized New Orleans by reliably hitting open three-pointers in transition. He finished with 17 points.
By contrast, the Pelicans missed 35 of their 49 attempts from three-point range, hitting just 3 of 19 in the second half.
ROCKETS 125, HORNETS 110
HOUSTON — James Harden had 40 points and 11 assists, and short-handed Houston overcame an early deficit to beat Charlotte.
It’s the third consecutive victory for Houston, and Charlotte’s fourth consecutive loss and 12th in 13 games.
Harden finished a rebound shy of a triple-double. He’s scored at least 35 points or more in his last three games after struggling through a shooting slump in his previous four.
The Rockets got off to a slow start and trailed throughout most of the first half on a night they played without starters Clint Capela and Russell Westbrook, who sat out with injuries.
The Hornets led early in the fourth before the Rockets used a 15-2 run to take control of the game midway through the quarter.
Miles Bridges and Terry Rozier had 20 points each for the Hornets, and Malik Monk (Bentonville) added 19 points off the bench.
NUGGETS 127, TRAIL BLAZERS 99
DENVER — Nikola Jokic finished an assist shy of a triple-double in just three quarters, Gary Harris helped keep hot-shooting Damian Lillard in check and Denver routed Portland.
Jokic had 29 points and 13 rebounds as the Nuggets improved to 8-0 against Northwest Division rivals this season. Even more, they accomplished something that hasn’t occurred very often of late — they contained Lillard. The Blazers point guard had a string of eight consecutive 30-point games snapped by being held to 21.
Lillard was 8 of 23 from the floor, predominantly with Harris shadowing him.
The Nuggets pulled away in the second quarter when they outscored the Blazers by a 27-10 margin. The 10 points were a season low for a quarter by Portland. The 38 points at halftime were also a low mark for the season.