By PAUL GOTHAM
Rochester native Jalen Pickett (Aquinas) scored 13 points and handed out seven assists, and the Denver Nuggets held off a late rally to defeat the host Milwaukee Bucks, 102-100 in NBA action, Friday night.
Making his ninth straight start and 13th overall of the season, Pickett connected five times from the floor including twice from behind the 3-point arc and converted 1-of-2 free throws to score in double figures for the seventh time this season. He had one turnover in the win.
Denver led 78-63 after three quarters of play. Milwaukee rallied and cut the deficit to one before Pickett took advantage at the free throw line.
The 6-foot-2 guard scored a career-high 29 points earlier in the month.
With league MVP Nikola Jokic sidelined with a hyperextended knee, the Nuggets (31-15) are 9-3 with Pickett in the starting five.
Denver is in third place in the NBA’s Western Conference, six games back of Oklahoma City.
A second-round pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Pickett made four starts a year ago. He has played 22 or more minutes in each of the past nine games, logging a season-high 41-plus minutes in an overtime game with Philadelphia when he reached his career-high output of points.
Fellow Rochester native, Isaiah Stewart (McQuaid Jesuit) finished with 16 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench as Detroit lost to Houston, 111-104, Friday night.
My nephew showing good signs of becoming an NBA Point Guard