Damian Lillard tied his season high with 39 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Houston Rockets 128-119 to win their fourth straight game and improve to 19-7 overall.
Lillard shot 11 of 19 from the field with five triples and 12 of 13 from the free throw line, adding 11 assists and three steals in a masterful performance.
Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to move into first place all-time in Bucks rebounding total (7,165) after racking up 26 points with 17 rebounds in the win.
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Morant returns from suspension next week | 01:03
The Bucks stayed in control of this one from the start, never allowing the Rockets to get closer than five points in the second and third quarters.
Houston chipped away at the scoreboard this past season, but every time they got close, Lillard or Antetokounmpo answered on the other end of the court.
During the final 38 seconds of the game, Dillon Brooks was given a technical foul by the referee for allegedly failing while flying for a loose ball before lashing out at the official.
This resulted in Brooks and both Rockets coaches Ime Udoaka being ejected from the game for disputing the call.
Fred Valvleet’s 22 points led all five Rockets in double figures, but they fell to 13-10 overall.
SOMEWHERE ELSE …
The Golden State Warriors may be struggling this season, but Steph Curry is still the same incredible Steph Curry.
During the second quarter of the Warriors’ 116-114 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Curry got his hands dirty with an epic behind-the-back pass, nearly full court.
The Warriors forced a turnover before Curry got the ball at Portland’s three-point line and passed it behind his back to DeAndre Ayton and Moses Moody on the other end of the court for an easy slam.
Despite the victory, Curry was held to a season-low seven points, including 0 of 8 from beyond the arc in the game. It was Curry’s first regular season game without a three-pointer since November 2018, ending a streak of 268 consecutive games – the longest in NBA history.
With out-of-form sharpshooter Klay Thompson (28 points on 11 of 16 shooting, 5 of 10 from downtown) and Andrew Wiggins (25 points on 9 of 12 shooting, 4 of 6 from three) stepped up as the Warriors got closer to .500 at 12-14 and improved to 2-1 since Draymond Green’s suspension.
Earlier, Boston improved its perfect NBA home record to 14-0 as Jaylen Brown produced a fourth-quarter surge that saw the Celtics pull away for a 114-97 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Brown scored 17 of his 31 points in the final period to help the Celtics, who led by nine through three quarters, extend their lead to 23.
Jayson Tatum scored 23 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 15 points and 10 rebounds in his return from a game absence.
The Celtics held off a 36-point, 10-rebound performance from Orlando’s Paolo Banchero to beat the Magic for the second time in three days.
Stung by Saturday’s defeat, the Magic quickly took a 10-point lead, but the Celtics reversed the trend in the second quarter and never trailed after the break.
The Celtics had lost four straight to the Magic before beating them Saturday in a victory that Brown called their biggest of the year.
“We cannot skip any steps,” he said.
“Orlando is one of those teams that has had our number over the last year and a half…We take the right mentality and we come out on top, and I love that.” Brown, who added five rebounds, six assists, a steal and a block, said his fourth-quarter surge was simply a matter of finding a rhythm.
“I’m a do-whatever-our-team-needs type of guy,” he said. “First quarter, fourth quarter, it doesn’t matter, I’m just taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.”
Brunson Burner drops 50 on the Suns! | 01:30
In other early action, the New Orleans Pelicans set a franchise record with 22 three-pointers in a dominant 146-110 victory over the Spurs in San Antonio.
CJ McCollum made six of his seven three-point attempts en route to 29 points. Brandon Ingram was five of seven from beyond the arc and scored 26 points for the Pelicans, who threw cold water on the Spurs’ halftime ceremony honoring Tony Parker’s induction into the Hall of Fame. fame in August.
Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as fellow Frenchman Parker, his childhood idol, looked on.
The Spurs, who ended their 18-game losing streak with a victory over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, took a 6-0 lead on Wembanyama’s alley-oop dunk in the opening minutes, but didn’t have much to celebrate the rest of the meeting. path.
After missing their first five shots, the Pelicans found their range again. They led by 13 after the first quarter and never looked back.
Zion Williamson finished with 15 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 15 with 15 rebounds and Jose Alvarado added 16 points coming off the bench for New Orleans.
ALL RESULTS
MAGIC 97 CELTICS 114
PELICANS 146 SPURS 110
ROCKETS 119 128 dollars
MAGICIANS 108 SUNS 112
WARRIORS 116 TRAIL BLAZER 114
