Kevin Durant paired 31 points with seven assists and took over down the stretch as the Houston Rockets rallied from a 14-point deficit and defeated the host Milwaukee Bucks 122-115 on Sunday.
Durant assisted on an Alperen Sengun dunk with 3:59 left that pulled the Rockets to within 108-107 before completing a three-point play and later assisting on a Jabari Smith Jr. 3-pointer that gave Houston a 113-11 lead.
Durant added an elbow jumper before Sengun sealed the victory with a three-point play with 23.4 seconds remaining that lifted Houston to a 120-114 lead.
Sengun added 23 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists while Smith added 16 points and nine rebounds. Reed Sheppard scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers off the Houston bench, and was instrumental in igniting the fourth-quarter rally that Durant and Sengun completed.
Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied a game-high 37 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but missed four free throws inside the final 90 seconds. Ryan Rollins chipped in 19 points, including a 3-pointer after the Sengun dunk that appeared to stabilize the Bucks.
Bobby Portis had 11 points, four assists and three steals off the Milwaukee bench. Amen Thompson totaled 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Rockets.
Antetokounmpo had just two points in the opening quarter and, despite Durant and Sengun combining for 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting, the Bucks carried a 30-28 lead into the second. Milwaukee shot 57.1 percent overall and made 5 of 8 from behind the arc in the first quarter, and turned a 7-0 spurt to open the second plus two Antetokounmpo free throws into a 41-31 lead.
The Rockets’ lack of ball security enabled the Bucks to stretch that margin to 14, with Cole Anthony, Gary Trent Jr., and Kyle Kuzma all drilling transition 3s following Houston turnovers. Sheppard turned an individual 8-0 blitz into a rally that pulled the Rockets to within 49-45, but the Bucks led 61-50 at the intermission after scoring 21 points off a dozen Houston turnovers.
