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.
