Houston (USA), Apr 29 (EFE) .- Night of contrasts lived at the Toyota Center, where guard-guard Kevin Porter Jr. achieved his best professional mark by scoring 50 points and the Houston Rockets won by 143-136 to the Milwaukee Bucks, who lost their star player, Greek power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo through injury from the first minute.
Porter Jr, who also had a double-double with 11 assists and five rebounds, scored nine 3-pointers and helped the Rockets break a five-game losing streak.
Porter Jr.’s dazzling performance allowed him to score 32 points in the second half and 17 in the fourth quarter. His previous career best was 30 points as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.
Porter Jr. also became the youngest player to record a 50-point double-double with 10 assists and the fourth in NBA history to achieve that mark before he turned 21 to join Brandon Jennings, LeBron James. and Devin Booker.
Houston was 17 points behind on the scoreboard during the second half, but everything changed when they began scoring triples and finished the game with 25 of 46 attempts, 54 percent correct, the best of the season.
Porter Jr.’s big performance came just one day after he was fined $ 50,000 by the league for violating its Covid-19 health and safety protocols.
Porter Jr. violated NBA rules of attending indoor socials of 15 or more people and entering bars and similar establishments when he went to a Miami club on April 19, the league said.
He also missed three games due to protocols after visiting the strip club with his teammate Sterling Brown.
While the Bucks saw how Antetokounmpo played only 46 seconds.
On a driving layup, he appeared to step on the foot of Canadian power forward Kelly Olynyk, bending his already injured right ankle. He limped to the locker room and spent a few minutes there before returning to the bench, where he sat for the remainder of the game.
Along with Porter Jr., center Christian Wood had 31 points and nine rebounds, and Olynyk added a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds, which left him the best in the inside game.
Milwaukee forward Khris Middleton had 33 points and eight assists, and Jrue Holiday had 29 points and 10 assists were the best.
Backup guard-forward Bryn Forbes scored a career-high 30 points, including six triples, and 18 points in the first half.
Milwaukee led 65-73 at halftime after Houston closed the half with a 20-4 streak.
The Rockets opened the third quarter with another 9-0 streak to take their first lead. They entered the fourth quarter ahead 104-98.
Despite the win, the Rockets (16-47) continue with the worst record in the Western Conference and in the league.
(c) EFE Agency