MILWAUKEE (AP) — Fred VanVleet scored 24 points and Amen Thompson added 23 as the Houston Rockets remained undefeated with a 132-100 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Center Alperen Sengun, the leading scorer for Houston (5-0) at 24.5 points per game, sat out with low back soreness.
VanVleet, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, hit 7 of 14 shots, including 4 of 9 from deep. He scored 15 consecutive points for Houston midway through the third quarter, hitting three free throws to put the Rockets up 81-61.
Thompson hit 10 of 16 shots as the Rockets shot 54.8%. Kevin Durant added 18 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 16 points in 15 minutes. Houston made 23 of 26 free-throw attempts.
Tyler Herro scored 23 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 19 for Milwaukee (1-4).
Houston took control with a dominant second quarter, outscoring the Bucks 34-14 for a 57-35 halftime lead.
The Rockets scored the first eight points of the period to go in front 31-21. Clint Capela’s tip-in extended the lead to 49-30.
Milwaukee hit just 4 of 24 from beyond the arc in the first half and made its only free-throw attempt, while the Rockets were 13 of 15 from the line.
Rockets center Steven Adams sat out with a with a right calf strain and guard Marcus Smart missed his third straight game with a left forearm strain.
Up next
Rockets: Visit Dallas on Friday in NBA Cup play.
Bucks: Host Cleveland on Saturday.
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Jim Hoehn, The Associated Press