WASHINGTON — Alperen Sengun had 32 points and 13 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 30 and the Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards 123-118 on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).
Trae Young was ejected from the game after leaving the bench to come on the court to complain to a referee, days before he is expected to make his Wizards debut.
Durant made all 11 free throws and added seven assists and six rebounds in his only game close to his Maryland home this season. Amen Thompson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Reed Sheppard finished with 19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals in his first care584451252er double-double.
Bilal Coulibaly scored 23 points and Sharife Cooper had 21 for the Wizards.
Washington coach Brian Keefe said before the game that Young was trending toward being ready to play Thursday against Utah. The All-Star point guard was limited to just 10 games this season with Atlanta and was sidelined by knee and quadriceps injuries when the Wizards acquired him in January.
But Young didn't wait to get into the action, getting ejected in the third quarter during a confrontation between Houston's Tari Eason and Washington's Jamir Watkins. Eason was also thrown out.
Washington was 12 for 19 from 3-point range in the first half but just 6 for 28 inside the arc as Houston led 60-51. Thompson had 12 points and Durant 11 in the third quarter as the Rockets pushed the lead to 18, and they led by 19 in the fourth before Washington made the score close with a 38-point period.
Washington center Julian Reese fouled out with two points in his NBA debut. The brother of WNBA player Angel Reese started and played 28 minutes.
Celtics 108, Bucks 81
In Milwaukee, Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, rookie Hugo González had career highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee to spoil Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a right calf strain.
Derrick White also scored 18 points for the Celtics, who have won three straight and seven of eight. White and Pritchard each had nine assists.
Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes in his first action since getting injured on Jan. 23. The Bucks went 8-7 during his absence.
Overall this season, the Bucks are 15-16 with Antetokounmpo and 11-18 without him.
Boston was missing five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown due to an illness. The Celtics also rested Neemias Queta, who scored a career-high 27 points in a 114-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
González started for just the third time. The 28th overall pick in the 2025 draft came in averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Nikola Vucevic had 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds in his first start since the Celtics acquired the two-time All-Star from Chicago at the trade deadline.
Boston went on a 24-5 run that started late in the first quarter and carried over to the second as the Celtics turned a 15-14 deficit into a 38-20 lead. Boston stayed in control the rest of the way.
The Celtics led by 22 before carrying a 57-43 edge into halftime. Milwaukee cut the margin to nine early in the second half, but Boston responded with 15 straight points.
Milwaukee has lost its last three games, all by at least 23 points.