Rockets rain on Giannis’ parade

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Alperen Sengun scored 21 points to lead seven Houston players in double figures and the Rockets withstood a 48-point performance from Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo in a 112-108 National Basketball Association victory over the Bucks on Saturday.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo added 17 rebounds for a seventh straight double-double, but it wasn't enough in a game that saw Houston take control early before fending off a fourth-quarter Bucks charge.

Sengun added 11 rebounds and four assists and Jeff Green and Jalen Green added 16 points apiece for the Rockets, who emerged from a tight first quarter with an 11-point lead that they pushed to 20 at halftime.

The Bucks trailed by as many as 18 early in the fourth quarter but cut the deficit to 110-105 on Antetokounmpo's put-back basket with 7.9 seconds remaining.

Houston's Fred VanVleet made a pair of free throws to finally put it out of reach.

"We just relied on our defense," Jeff Green said. "We've been in these situations plenty of times, we've relied on each other. We got the stops when we needed them and made big shots."

Antetokounmpo's 18th career game of 45 or more points tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in Bucks franchise history.

In Indianapolis, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 69 points and the Boston Celtics again kept the potent Indiana Pacers offense in check in a 118-101 victory.

Tatum scored 38 points and Brown added 31 for the league-leading Celtics, who held the Pacers to a season-low in points as they snapped Indiana's six-game winning streak.