DETROIT — Trae Young had 38 points and nine assists Thursday night and the Atlanta Hawks opened the season with a 117-100 victory against the Detroit Pistons.
John Collins added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jabari Parker had 18 points. Vince Carter checked in for Atlanta with 6:52 left in the first quarter, becoming the first player to see action in 22 NBA seasons.
Derrick Rose led Detroit with 27 points, and Andre Drummond had 21 points and 12 rebounds. On Wednesday night in Indiana, Drummond had 32 points and 23 rebounds in Detroit’s season-opening victory.
The teams played without game and shot clocks for three minutes in the fourth period. The time remaining was announced at each stoppage in play and the shot clock was announced at 10 seconds and counted down from five. The clocks returned to the scoreboard for the final six minutes, but the boards above the baskets remained blank.
Young’s four-point play with 3:43 left in the first half gave him 26 points – the highest-scoring half of his career – and put the Hawks up 58-51. Rose, though, scored 15 points in the half and Langston Galloway’s late 3-pointer gave Detroit a 63-60 halftime lead.
BUCKS 117, ROCKETS 111: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 30 points before fouling out and his supporting cast held on to lead Milwaukee in an opener at Houston.
Antetokounmpo, the MVP last season, fouled out with about five minutes remaining.
Brook Lopez made two free throws with about a minute left before a layup by Russell Westbrook. But Lopez made a fadeaway shot to leave Milwaukee up 115-109 with 39 seconds remaining. James Harden added a pair of free throws before Ersan Ilyasova made a jump shot with about 15 seconds to go that sent many fans heading to the exits.
Some had wondered what would happen with the pairing of the two ball-dominant guards in Harden and Westbrook after Westbrook, the 2017 MVP, was traded from Oklahoma City for Chris Paul this summer. In their first game together with the Rockets both filled up the stat sheet, but they were unable to come away with a win after leading for much of the game.
NOTES
KINGS: Forward Marvin Bagley III will miss 4 to 6 weeks after injuring his thumb in the opener.
An MRI showed Bagley has a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb after getting hurt in a 124-95 loss at Phoenix.
SUNS: Center Deandre Ayton was suspended for 25 games without pay by the NBA for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for a diuretic.
Ayton, the first overall pick last year out of Arizona, averaged 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds as a rookie. He had 18 points and 11 rebounds Wednesday night in the season-opening home victory over Sacramento.
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