MANILA – Kevin Porter Jr. was blazing during the second half of their basketball game as the Houston Rockets cruised to a wire-to-wire 143-136 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The already eliminated Rockets improved to a 16-47 win-loss slate in the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association (NBA) Season.
Porter drilled nine three-pointers to finish with career-high 50 points while completing his double-double by dishing 11 assists.
Christian Wood dropped 31 markers, Kelly Olynyk had 24 points and 13 rebounds, while former Bucks player D.J. Wilson drained 15 points and 12 rebounds for Houston.
Trailing by 73-65 at the half, the Rockets mounted a huge scoring spree in the third period with Porter and Wood connecting their outside shots to seize a 104-98 advantage.
The Bucks started strong in the fourth quarter and regained a 121-116 lead, but Porter went berserk anew for Houston as his three-point hits allowed them to establish a 132-125 advantage late in the fourth period.
Milwaukee, which lost Giannis Antetokounmpo to the game due to injury, had its last stand at 136-138, but baskets by Olynyk and Porter secured the victory for Houston.
Khris Middleton tallied 33 points, and Brynn Forbes and Jrue Holiday fired 30 and 29 markers, respectively. The Bucks dropped to a 38-24 slate for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Kevin Durant tied his season-best with 42 points as the Brooklyn Nets (43-20) manhandled Indiana Pacers (29-33), 130-113, to stay on top in the East.
Apart from his scoring, the one-time NBA Most Valuable Player awardee drained 10 assists to complete a double-double. Alize Johnson, meanwhile, hauled career-best 21 rebounds to go along with 20 points for the Nets.
Tim Hardaway Jr. was scorching as he went for a career-high 42 points in Dallas Mavericks’ (43-20) come-from-behind 115-105 victory over Detroit Pistons (29-33).
BOX SCORE:
HOUSTON 143 – Porter 50, Wood 31, Olynyk 24, Wilson 15, Tate 12, Brooks 6, Martin 5, Jeffries 0, Lamb 0.
MILWAUKEE 136 – Middleton 33, Forbes 30, Holiday 29, Lopez 15, Portis 10, Tucker 6, Teague 6, DiVincenzo 3, Connaughton 3, G. Antetokounmpo 1, T. Antetokounmpo 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
29-38, 65-73, 104-98, 143-136./PN
