By Joel Bartilotta
RotoWire
The Houston Rockets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 92-89 in the Las Vegas Summer League on Friday.
The Rockets led this game by 14 points with just over three minutes left and narrowly avoided a disastrous collapse. They allowed the Bucks to score 16 points in the final three minutes and limped to the finish line in the win. With that said, Houston did dominate the shooting, as they hit 52.2 percent of their shots, while holding Milwaukee to under 40 percent from the field.
Four Milwaukee starters scored in double figures, but none of them were able to muster up more than 13 points. Ra’Shad James actually led the team in scoring, as he scored 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting to go with five boards while coming off the bench. Second-year guard Rashad Vaughn led the starters in scoring (13 points), while prized rookie Thon Maker fell a rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 12 points and nine boards. Joshua Smith also neared a double-double, amassing 10 points and eight rebounds.
For the Rockets, Montrezl Harrell left his imprint on this game, scoring a team-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Second-year man Sam Dekker had a similar line, as he tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. And despite shooting just 5-for-13, K.J. McDaniels was able to provide 14 points and five rebounds.
Houston moved to 2-3 in summer league play with the win, while the Bucks dropped to 1-4.
