Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo / Eric Christian Smith)
By the Associated Press
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.
Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook celebrates his dunk during the second half of the team’s NBA game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Houston. (AP Photo / Eric Christian Smith)
Trae Young leads Hawk past Pistons
Trae Young feels like a veteran as he enters his second NBA season. That’s news for the rest of the league.
Young had 38 points and nine assists and the Atlanta Hawks opened the season with a 117-100 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night.
“I’m a lot more comfortable than I was at this point last year,” Young said. “Obviously, I’m not a rookie anymore and I felt great out there tonight. Once I hit a couple shots, I knew it was rolling.”
If anyone at Little Caesars Arena doubted how good Young was feeling, he made it clear midway through the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer from the edge of the Pistons logo at half court.
“I knew it was deep, but I didn’t realize I was on the logo until someone told me at halftime,” he said. “Ever since high school, I’ve known when I was in range and let it go.”
Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young makes a layup during the second half of the team’s NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, in Detroit. (AP Photo / Carlos Osorio)
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.
“Vince stabilizes this team,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “Our starting lineup has about half as many years as he does, and we’ve got a bunch of guys who weren’t even born when he started. He didn’t have a basket tonight, but the boxscore can’t show you everything he did to help us win.”
Derrick Rose led Detroit with 27 points, and Andre Drummond had 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Drummond had 32 points and 23 rebounds in Detroit’s season-opening victory on Wednesday in Indiana, but the Hawks scored 60 points in the paint.
“I thought we came out tonight with a laissez-faire attitude defensively, and they took the game to us,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “We had a good game last night, but that didn’t mean a hill of beans tonight.”
Drummond, who played 78 minutes in just over 24 hours, didn’t think that was the problem.
“I really didn’t have time to ease myself into the game, but this was just a tough night for us overall,” he said. “We’re NBA players. There’s no excuse for the way we started the game.”
Young’s four-point play with 3:43 left in the first half gave him 26 points — the highest-scoring 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 back-to-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.
The Pistons narrowed the lead to 98-92, but a pair of Rose turnovers helped the Hawks scored the next seven points and take a 13-point lead with 4:47 to play.
Detroit got the margin to single digits, but Young’s three-point play with 1:33 wrapped it up.
Source: Manila Bulletin
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