Aussies Abroad: Giddey stars as Daniels, Landale impress

AAP & NBL Media.

Josh Giddey continued his standout season with 15 points and 13 assists as Chicago produced a stunning upset win over Houston.

Matas Buzelis’s layup in the final seconds put Chicago ahead as the Bulls stunned the Rockets at home.

Collin Sexton came off the bench to score 25 points as the hosts, who only have a mathematical chance of making the playoffs, won 132-124 on Monday.

Houston’s loss, combined with San Antonio’s 136-111 win over Miami, allowed the Spurs (54-18) to clinch the Southwest Division.

The Bulls (29-42) led by as many as 22 points after scoring a season-high 41 points in the first quarter.

But Chicago trailed by four points late and needed Buzelis’s basket with 10.2 seconds remaining to move ahead for good and post their first win over Houston in the teams’ last five meetings.

Kevin Durant fuelled the Rockets’ (43-28) comeback by scoring 15 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter. Durant was 15 of 23 from the field, marking the ninth straight game he shot 50 per cent or better, the third-longest streak of his career.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka was ejected after being assessed his second technical foul of the game with 9.1 seconds remaining.

Sexton scored 17 of his points in the first quarter, while Buzelis finished with 23 and Leonard Miller added 17.

Giddey, who has been in stellar form this season, Tre Jones and Jalen Smith each scored 15 points for the Bulls

After trailing by 17 at half-time, the Rockets took the lead on a Jabari Smith Jr. three-pointer with 5:56 to play. Alperen Sengun scored 33 for Houston and Amen Thompson added 23.

Jalen Smith, who was listed as questionable after missing the Bulls’ last game with an ankle injury, tied his season-high in points and finished with six rebounds and two blocks off the bench despite being limited to 26 minutes.

The Rockets had won two straight after inserting second-year guard Reed Sheppard into the starting lineup. Sheppard shot 3-of-14 from three-point range.

In Atlanta, Australian duo Dyson Daniels and Jock Landale played their part in the Hawks’ 39-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The pair contributed 23 points between them, with Daniels also posting five rebounds and four assists to go with his 12 points.

In Philadelphia, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points and Jalen Williams added 18 as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their 12th game in a row with a 123-103 victory over the short-handed 76ers.

Jared McCain had 13 points for the Thunder in his first game in Philadelphia since last month’s trade. The defending NBA champions improved to 57-15, the best record in the league.