MILWAUKEE, (Reuters) – Rookie Brandon Jennings provided a Halloween treat for Milwaukee, hitting 24 points including nine straight in the third quarter, as the Bucks rallied past the Detroit Pistons 96-85 on Saturday.
A night after flirting with a rare NBA record in a season-opening away loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Jennings dazzled the crowd in his home debut, hitting all seven of his shots in the third quarter as the Bucks (1-1) erased a 49-38 halftime deficit to register their first win of the new campaign.
Jennings, taken with the 10th overall pick by Milwaukee in this year’s draft, had given himself a tough act to follow by posting 17 points, nine assists and nine rebounds on his NBA debut on Friday.
Oscar Robertson, in October 1960 with the Cincinnati Royals, is the only player to have recorded a triple-double in his first career game.
“He (Jennings) came out in the third quarter and gave us a huge lift, got in a zone for a little while and showed us a whole other element to his game,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles told reporters.
“I told him I thought that was one of the most impressive first games I’ve ever seen by a rookie last night since I’ve been in the league.”
‘MUST WIN GAME’
Jennings, the first high school player to bypass college to play professional basketball in Europe, produced an impressive encore bringing the Bradley Centre crowd to its feet with an electrifying second-half performance.
After nailing a jumper to pull Milwaukee level at 55-55 five minutes into the third, the 20-year-old guard hit on a fade-away jumper 30 seconds later then added another two points on a driving layup before dropping a long range three-pointer to give the Bucks a 62-55 lead they would never surrender.
“They put it on the board, must win game, home opener and I felt the same way,” said Jennings, who spent last year playing in the Italian league with Lottomatica Virtus Roma.
“We had to bounce back and win the game today.
“We just kept chipping down the lead and then next thing you know we had the lead and never gave it back”
Hakim Warrick contributed 21 points off the bench for the Bucks while Michael Redd had nine points before exiting the game in the second half with a sore knee.
Australian Andrew Bogut continued his sluggish start to the season, the number one overall pick in the 2005 draft collecting six points and eight rebounds as he struggles to regain full fitness after missing the final 31 games last season with a sore back.
