Rapid Recap: Bucks 125, Rockets 105

In their home opener, the Milwaukee Bucks left the Houston Rockets on the launching pad from tip-off, never trailing on their way to a convincing 125-105 victory. After a somewhat deferential opener in Philly, Giannis poured in 44 points on just 21 shots in a mere 28 minutes.

NBA.com Box Score

It became clear pretty early that the Baby Rockets could do very little against Giannis and Co., with the Bucks starting off on a 16-2 run, including the first 13 points unanswered. Milwaukee led 41-23 after one, shooting 65.2% and hitting 7 of their first 10 triples. Powered by Jalen Green, the Rockets briefly shrank the lead to as close as 13, but Giannis put together a 7-1 personal run to win the quarter by one, and give his team a 67-48 advantage at the half.

Houston torched the nets from outside in the third, drawing as close as 12 by hitting 6 of their 11 three-point attempts. Still, Giannis was simply too much for even the most scorching perimeter shooting, pouring in 18 third-quarter points to keep the Rockets at bay, nearly notching 40 in three quarters. Once again, the Bucks managed to even things out and reestablish their 19-point lead, heading into the fourth up 98-79. Giannis exited with 8:08 remaining and up 22, though Bud waited almost six more minutes before emptying his bench, allowing for MarJon Beauchamp’s NBA debut, followed by his first NBA bucket. Those would be the final Milwaukee points as they finished off Houston 125-105 to move to 2-0 on the young season.

Stat That Stood Out

After being outscored 46-30 by the Sixers in the paint, the Bucks flipped the interior scoring switch back on for a 58-38 edge inside on the Rockets. 38 of those were courtesy of Giannis, who only missed 2 of his 17 shots inside the restricted area.

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