Night of contrasts lived at the Toyota Center, where the very young guard-guard Kevin Porter Jr. achieved his best professional mark by scoring 50 points and the Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 143-136, who lost their star player, Greek power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo from the first minute through injury.
Porter Jr., who He also achieved a double-double by distributing 11 assists and capturing 5 rebounds., scored 9 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 scoring mark before turning 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 to score triples and finished the game with 25 of 46 attempts, 54 percent correct, the best of the season.
Porter Jr.’s great performance came just one day after being fined $ 50,000 by the league after violating its Covid-19 health and safety protocols.
Porter Jr. broke NBA rules about attending indoor socials of 15 or more people and walking into 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 the visit to the strip club with his teammate Sterling Brown.
The Bucks, beyond the defeat, watched with great concern as Antetokounmpo played only 46 seconds.
On a driving layup, he appeared to have stepped 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., the pivot Christian Wood had 31 points and 9 rebounds, and Olynyk added a double-double of 24 points and 13 rebounds, which left him as the best in the inside game.
The eaves Khris middleton from Milwaukee added 33 points and 8 assists, Y Jrue Holiday added 29 points and 10 assists to try to overcome Anteto’s loss.
The reserve guard-forward Bryn Forbes scored a career-high 30 points, including 6 triples and 18 goals in the first half.
Milwaukee led 65-73 at halftime after Houston closed the half on 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 by far.