Reed Sheppard scored 27 points, Alperen Sengun added 25 and the Houston Rockets fended off the injury-depleted Milwaukee Bucks 119-113 on Wednesday to extend their winning streak to four games.
Sheppard hit a career-high nine 3-pointers while Sengun shot 9-for-13 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds while battling foul trouble.
The Rockets (47-29) led by 20 points in the third quarter but didn’t seal the victory until Kevin Durant (19 points, nine assists) sank two free throws with 6.3 seconds left to complete the scoring.
The Bucks (30-46) were missing their top six scorers but didn’t relent. Ousmane Dieng (36 points), Cormac Ryan (25) and Pete Nance (23) all tallied career highs while Jericho Sims pulled down a career-best 20 rebounds. Dieng also posted seven rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
Sengun gave the Rockets a 66-46 lead with his dunk off an assist from Amen Thompson (18 points, nine rebounds, six assists) at the 8:17 mark of the third. However, the Bucks caught fire from behind the arc in the period, nailing 10 of 15 long-distance attempts to shave the deficit to 85-78 entering the fourth.
Ryan was 3 of 3, AJ Green 3 of 5 and Nance 2 of 4 from deep in the third. Green (15 points) and Nance finished with five 3-pointers each, while Ryan wound up with four.
The Bucks displayed their pluckiness from the start. Houston extended to a 15-point lead when Aaron Holiday buried a 3-pointer with 2:30 left in the first quarter, but Milwaukee closed the period with an 8-0 run that sliced the deficit to 27-20.
That rally extended into the second, with Andre Jackson Jr. drilling a 3-pointer that pulled the Bucks within 29-26. Sheppard and Josh Okogie helped the Rockets reclaim their double-digit cushion, with Sheppard nailing a trail 3-pointer before Okogie followed his tip dunk with a trey that lifted Houston to a 47-33 lead.
Milwaukee closed within 54-44 at the intermission, signaling its determination to stay in the fight. Still, the Bucks ended up with their fifth loss in six games.
