Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers was impressed by Damian Lillard's "courage" as he secured a late win over the Houston Rockets in the NBA.

Lillard returned to the Bucks' line-up after missing the last three games while in concussion protocol and made a go-ahead layup with 3.9 seconds left to clinch a 101-100 win.

He finished with 18 points and 10 assists to make it three wins from four for Milwaukee, who started the season 2-8.

However, Lillard also missed all six of his 3-point attempts, but Rivers maintained his confidence in the eight-time All-Star, comparing him to one of the NBA's greatest shooters.

"Dame just has great courage, you know?" Rivers said. "Reminds me a lot of Ray Allen in that way.

"Ray didn't have a lot of bad shooting nights, but when he had one, if you had one shot to make, you still wanted to go to him. And that's how you feel about Dame.

"Like, whether he's on fire or not, he just has this thing in him that he believes that he should take the last shot and make the last shot. And he does it over and over."

Brook Lopez scored 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting, along with 10 rebounds, while Giannis Antetokounmpo chipped in with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Rockets looked set to extend their winning streak to six games though, as they edged to a 100-99 lead with 1:17 remaining until Lillard's late involvement flipped the script.

"I could feel it was one of those games where I needed to keep going, keep my foot on the gas down the stretch," Lillard said.

"It just came down to those last two plays. I got one to go, and we were able to get a stop on the other end."