Damian Lillard made a driving layup with 3.9 seconds remaining and had a hand in the game’s final seven points as the Milwaukee Bucks eked out a 101-100 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Monday.
After Alperen Sengun (18 points, seven rebounds) gave Houston a 100-94 lead by tipping in his miss with 1:58 to play, Lillard sank two free throws before assisting on an AJ Green 3-pointer at the 1:17 mark. Lillard (18 points, 10 assists) converted the game-winner after Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a short jumper from Sengun with 19.1 seconds left.
Brook Lopez led the Bucks with 27 points and five 3-pointers while adding 10 rebounds and four blocks. Antetokounmpo paired 20 rebounds with 13 rebounds to help Milwaukee snap the Rockets’ five-game winning streak.
Fred VanVleet scored a team-high 26 points including 17 in the third quarter to pull the Rockets back from a 14-point deficit. He tallied 12 consecutive points for Houston and assisted on a Sengun three-point play with 44.2 seconds left that cut the margin to 83-80 after three quarters.
Jalen Green took the baton from VanVleet to open the fourth, hitting a pair of 3s around an Aaron Holiday layup to lift the Rockets to an 88-83 lead. Houston led by as many as seven in the final period before Lillard led the comeback in the waning moments
Green had 21 points—including 10 in the fourth quarter—and nine rebounds for Houston.
The Rockets scored the opening nine points of the game and extended to a 13-point lead before Lopez engineered a comeback. He recorded the Bucks’ first basket with a tip-in of a missed free throw from Antetokounmpo and later drilled a pair of 3-pointers that, coupled with an Antetokounmpo layup, cut the deficit to 18-14 with 4:30 left in the period.
Lopez added another 3 before the close of the first and posted 13 points in the period. Houston clung to a 28-27 lead entering the second but Bobby Portis erased that margin with the first of six 3-pointers in the period for the Bucks. Gary Trent Jr. nailed three of those 3s and when Antetokounmpo hit a jump hook in the lane, Milwaukee secured a 48-38 cushion.
Lopez and Trent each sank four 3-pointers in the first half and combined for 28 points to help Milwaukee to a 57-45 lead at the break. While the Bucks hit 11 of 23 from deep before the break, the Rockets were 0-for-5 on 3-pointers in the second and shot 26.9 percent overall in the period. — Field Level Media/Reuters
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