Bucks beat Rockets in Westbrook’s Houston debut
HOUSTON — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and had a triple-double before fouling out and his supporting cast held on to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 117-111 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night in a star-studded opener featuring the last three MVPs.
Antetokounmpo, the MVP last season, fouled out with about five minutes remaining. He had 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
Brook Lopez made two free throws with about a minute left before a layup by Russell Westbrook. But Lopez made a fadeaway shot to leave Milwaukee up 115-109 with 39 seconds remaining. James Harden added a pair of free throws before Ersan Ilyasova made a jump shot with about 15 seconds to go that sent many fans heading to the exits.
Some had wondered what would happen with the pairing of the two ball-dominant guards in Harden and Westbrook after the 2017 MVP was traded from Oklahoma City for Chris Paul this summer. In their first game together with the Rockets both filled up the stat sheet, but they were unable to come away with a win after leading for much of the game.
Westbrook had 24 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, Harden, the 2018 MVP, added 19 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds. He was 2 of 13 from the field, 1 of 8 on 3s and made 14 free throws without a miss.
The Bucks led by six when Antetokounmpo fouled out. He walked to coach Mike Budenholzer and implored him to challenge the call, but he’d already used his one challenge per game that coaches get this season and couldn’t do anything to help his superstar.
Houston scored the next five points, with the last four from Westbrook to cut the lead to 101-100. But Khris Middleton hit a 3-pointer with 3½ minutes left to stretch Milwaukee’s lead.
HAWKS 117, PISTONS 100
In Detroit, Trae Young had 38 points and nine assists and Atlanta opened the season with a victory over the Pistons.
John Collins added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jabari Parker had 18 points. Vince Carter checked in for Atlanta with 6:52 left in the first quarter, becoming the first player to see action in 22 NBA seasons.
Derrick Rose led Detroit with 27 points, and Andre Drummond had 21 points and 12 rebounds. On Wednesday night in Indiana, Drummond had 32 points and 23 rebounds in Detroit’s seasonopening victory.
The teams played without game and shot clocks for three minutes in the fourth period. The time remaining was announced at each stoppage in play and the shot clock was announced at 10 seconds and counted down from five. The clocks returned to the scoreboard for the final six minutes, but the boards above the baskets remained blank.
Young’s four-point play with 3:43 left in the first half gave him 26 points — the highestscoring half of his career — and put the Hawks up 58-51. Rose, though, scored 15 points in the half and Langston Galloway’s late 3-pointer gave Detroit a 63-60 halftime lead.
The teams stayed close for most of the quarter, but backto-back dunks by Parker — one over Thon Maker — put Atlanta up 88-79. Parker added two free throws, giving him 18 points, and the Hawks took a 91-81 lead into the break.
De’Andre Hunter’s 3-pointer extended Atlanta’s lead to 97-83 with 8:47 to play. Detroit scored the next four points before the game was delayed for several minutes because of the clock failure.