Bucks overcome 16-point deficit to beat Rockets; Clippers destroy Warriors in first game at Chase Center

Thomas Lott

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Bucks overcome 16-point deficit to beat Rockets; Clippers destroy Warriors in first game at Chase Center image

The Bucks are trying to shred the stigma that they are all Giannis Antetokounmpo or nothing this season.

In Milwaukee's 117-111 win over Houston, the Bucks came back from a 16-point halftime deficit to win the game and they did it without the reigning MVP, who fouled out with 5:18 left in the season opener Thursday.

At that point, the Bucks had already taken a lead which left Antetokounmpo excited despite his early exit.

"We stayed together, we played together, we win together, we lose together," said Antetokounmpo, who tallied the first triple-double in a season opener in Bucks history. "Even though we faced adversity, we wasn't playing our basketball we could play in the first quarter and the second quarter, we came out, we were able to move the ball, execute and we just executed out gameplan really well, we just stayed together."

Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

Every single Milwaukee starter finished in double digits in scoring.

Russell Westbrook led the Rockets with 24 points and 16 rebounds in his Houston debut. 

In San Francisco, the Clippers won thieir second straight game to open the season in impressive fashion dropping Golden State 141-122 in the first game in Warriors history at Chase Center.

Even without Paul George, the Clippers looked great on both sides of the court as Kawhi Leonard, Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson all finished with 20 or more points.

Stephen Curry and D'Angelo Russell were good for the Warriors, but Russell didn't do much after scoring the Warriors' first 10 points and Curry struggled shooting the ball throughout the game going 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

Studs of the Night

Trae Young had 38 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the Hawks' 117-100 win over the Pistons.

Duds of the Night

Cam Reddish's rookie year is off to a tough shooting start. He scored one point on 0-of-6 shooting including 0 of 5 from 3-point range. He did have seven rebounds, though.

James Harden scored 19 points but he went 2-of-13 shooting in the loss to the Bucks.

Highlight

James Harden and Russell Westbrook look like they'll at least be fun together in Houston.

What's Next

Jazz (1-0) at Lakers (0-1), 10:30 p.m. ET — Two teams that added big pieces this offseason face off in Los Angeles on Friday. Mike Conley joins Donovan Mitchell in the Utah backcourt while Anthony Davis teams up with LeBron James and the Lakers. And that's not even the half of it as Danny Green, Bojan Bogdanovic (who may be hurt), Quinn Cook and Dwight Howard are all finding their way with new teams. 

Thomas Lott