MILWAUKEE _ The smiles were back for the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said before the game his team had lost the fun in their game during a five-game losing streak.
But they found it in a 127-114 victory over the Houston Rockets, avenging a 19-point loss in Houston last week.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 31 points and Jabari Parker had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Milwaukee (21-23). Antetokounmpo did a shimmy as he ran downcourt after hitting a 3-pointer in the final minute.
Matthew Dellavedova played the floor general to perfection and had 16 points and seven assists in 31 minutes.
James Harden led Houston (34-14) with 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. He nearly had a quadruple double as he finished with 11 turnovers.
The Bucks shot 68 percent in the first half and led by as many as 15 points before settling for a 68-64 lead at intermission.
A 3-pointer by Dellavedova gave Milwaukee a 90-84 lead but Gordon answered with a triple to cut the margin to three.
The Bucks led, 93-91, entering the fourth quarter.
Jason Terry gave the Bucks a huge lift early in the final quarter, making two steals and scoring five points to spark an 11-0 run.
Greg Monroe also had a steal that led to two Parker free throws and Tony Snell swished a three as a trailer to give Milwaukee a 110-99 lead with 6:47 remaining.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
1. Jabari Parker was inspired in the first half. After coming off the bench in Miami on Saturday for disciplinary reasons, Parker had 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 19 first-half minutes. And he also had to guard MVP candidate James Harden.
2. Houston attempted 44 3-pointers against the Bucks last week (making 14) in a 111-92 victory. The Rockets came out firing again, hitting 8 of 19 triples in the first half. They hit 6 of 16 in the second half.
3. Houston Rockets forward Sam Dekker scored a career-best 30 points in a starting role against Memphis on Saturday. But he came off the bench and scored just four points on 2-for-7 shooting against the Bucks on Monday. He played 16 minutes.
