MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The NBA team from Houston, Texas, is still perfect. The Rockets ran past the Milwaukee Bucks 132-100 on Wednesday night to move to 5-0 and keep the best record in the league, even with three regulars in street clothes.
Fred VanVleet had his best night since coming back from a torn ACL that wiped out all of last season. He had only three points until a 3-pointer at the halftime horn, then took over after the break, scoring 15 points in a row for Houston midway through the third quarter. He finished with a season-high 24 on 7-of-14 shooting, plus six rebounds, five assists and a perfect night at the foul line.
Amen Thompson made 10 of his 16 shots for 23 points. Kevin Durant added 18 and three blocks, and Bogdan Bogdanovic poured in 16 in just 15 minutes off the bench.
The game turned in the second quarter, which Houston won 34-14 to build a 57-35 lead at the half. Milwaukee went just 4 of 24 from long range before the break.
The Rockets did it without Alperen Sengun, their top scorer at 24.5 points per game, who sat with low back soreness. A sore left forearm kept Marcus Smart out for a third game in a row, and Steven Adams sat with a right calf strain. Sengun and Smart could be back soon, but Adams figures to be gone for a week or more.
Houston shot 54.8% overall and made 23 of 26 free throws, and on defense it collected 12 steals and 10 blocks. The rebuilding Bucks fell to 1-4 despite 23 points from Tyler Herro.
Next up is a Friday trip to Dallas to open NBA Cup group play, with tipoff at 7 p.m. Central.
Section: More Houston TX sports news
Filed under: Houston TX Sports News
