Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 14 fourth-quarter points as Milwaukee Bucks defeat Brooklyn Nets
Written by News on 02/04/2019
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 131-121 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
Milwaukee Bucks 131-121 Brooklyn Nets
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points, 14 of them in the fourth quarter, to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 131-121 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
With the win, the Bucks’ magic number for clinching home-court advantage throughout the playoffs is one. The Toronto Raptors kept pace with Bucks in the race for the best record in the league by beating the Orlando Magic.
The Nets remained a half-game ahead of the Detroit Pistons in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
All five Bucks starters scored in double figures and were led by Eric Bledsoe with 29 points. D’Angelo Russell led the Nets with 28 points and Caris LeVert added 24.
The Bucks scored the game’s first six points and opened a 24-9 lead on Bledsoe’s jumper. Brooklyn claw backed to cut the Bucks’ deficit to 59-54 at half-time behind Russell and LeVert, who combined to score 29 points in the first half.
The Nets tied the game at 61-all on Jarrett Allen’s jumper less than two minutes into the third period. Russell gave Brooklyn its first lead of the game with a 27ft three-pointer at the 8:42 mark.
The teams traded baskets and the lead 17 times until Bledsoe gave the Bucks the lead for good at 85-84 with 1:50 left in the third.
The Bucks took a 91-89 lead entering the fourth and Antetokounmpo went to work. His jumper and two free throws pushed the lead to six at 95-89. Moments later, his jumper gave the Bucks a 100-91 lead.
Brooklyn cut the deficit to 103-100 on Joe Harris’ 3-point jumper but Bledsoe and George Hill scored six straight and the Bucks hung on from there.
Detroit Pistons 102-111 Indiana Pacers
Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic led a balanced attack with 19 points apiece as the host Indiana Pacers topped the Detroit Pistons 111-102.
Young also had nine rebounds and five assists, while Bogdanovic racked up seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Domantas Sabonis delivered 18 points and 12 rebounds off the bench before fouling out.
Pacers center Myles Turner had 17 points, six rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Tyreke Evans added 13 points and Doug McDermott chipped in 11.
Wayne Ellington led the Pistons with a season-best 26 points. Reggie Jackson supplied 22 points, six rebounds and four assists while Andre Drummond contributed 18 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Thon Maker added 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks.
Sabonis and Young combined for 29 first-half points as the Pacers grabbed a 59-55 half-time lead. Early in the third, Jackson made two lay-ups during a 9-0 Pistons spurt that put them on top 68-67. Indiana regained the lead with a 9-0 run of their own late in the quarter. Turner had five of those points, including a three-pointer to give his club an 83-77 advantage in the period’s final minute.
The Pacers led 87-80 entering the fourth. Aaron Holiday made a jumper in the opening minute to stretch the advantage to nine. The Pistons crept within two but the Pacers regained the nine-point lead with 8:04 left on a McDermott three.
McDermott scored again 33 seconds later to make it 98-87. After Detroit came within seven, Bogdanovic’s three with 2:39 left ended any suspense.
Miami Heat 105-110 Boston Celtics
Al Horford’s second career triple-double led the host Boston Celtics to a 110-105 win over the Miami Heat in the opener of a home-and-home.
Horford had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double since 2015. Kyrie Irving added 25 points and eight rebounds, Jayson Tatum scored 19, and Marcus Smart had 16 points as the Celtics (46-32) maintained their grip on a share of the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Goran Dragic scored 30 to lead the Heat (38-39), who narrowly held onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the East as Orlando lost to Toronto. Bam Adebayo had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade chipped in 17 points in his last regular-season game in Boston.
Before the game, Celtics president Danny Ainge presented Wade with a piece of the TD Garden parquet floor from 2008.
Heat starting forward Derrick Jones Jr sustained a right knee injury in the first half and did not return. The team announced he will be re-evaluated in Miami, where the two teams will meet again Wednesday.
Trailing by 14 at the half, the Heat got within 71-65 on an alley-oop finished by Adebayo with 6:28 left in the third. Miami would get no closer in the period, entering the fourth down 88-77.
The Heat once again threatened in the fourth. A Wade basket got Miami within 103-100 with two minutes left, but a three-point play by Irving with 1:25 to go essentially iced the game.
Orlando Magic 109-121 Toronto Raptors
Danny Green scored a season-best 29 points and added five rebounds to help the Toronto Raptors defeat the visiting Orlando Magic 121-109.
The Raptors (55-23), who are second in the Eastern Conference, gained a split in the four-game season series with the Magic (38-40), who are still fighting to get into the playoffs. They remain a half-game back of the Miami Heat, who also lost Monday, for the final spot in the East.
Kawhi Leonard added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Raptors. Serge Ibaka scored 15 points, Marc Gasol had 13 points, Kyle Lowry contributed 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Fred VanVleet scored 10 points for Toronto.
Evan Fournier scored 21 points for the Magic, Nikola Vucevic had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Wesley Iwundu added 16 points and Khem Birch had 11.
Toronto led by 24 during the third quarter and had a 20-point advantage entering the fourth.
The Magic scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, but the Raptors responded with their own 6-0 surge. Orlando came back again and closed the margin to eight with 1:12 to play as the Raptors went with reserves.
Philadelphia 76ers 102-122 Dallas Mavericks
Justin Jackson scored 24 points to carry the host Dallas Mavericks past the Philadelphia 76ers 122-102.
Trey Burke added 16 points while Salah Mejri contributed 16 points to go along with a season-best 14 rebounds. Dwight Powell scored 14 points and rookie Jalen Brunson had 13 for the Mavericks, who won handily despite the fact that Luka Doncic wasn’t available because of a thigh injury.
The Mavericks have now won two straight for the first time since the first week of February.
JJ Redick led the Sixers with 26 points while Tobias Harris added 25. Ben Simmons scored 17. The Sixers, who played without center Joel Embiid out (load management) and guard Jimmy Butler (back), had their brief two-game winning streak snapped. The Sixers are 7-8 without Embiid this season.
The Sixers went more than eight minutes without a field goal late in the second quarter and trailed 68-50 at half-time. Dirk Nowitzki’s three-pointer from the corner with 2.8 seconds left gave the Mavericks the 18-point lead at the break.
The Sixers closed within 11 early in the third before a late Dallas surge pushed its lead to 97-77 at the end of the quarter.
Redick’s fourth three-pointer cut the Mavericks’ advantage to 100-82 early in the fourth. But the Sixers fell behind by 18 thanks in large part to 18.2 per cent three-point shooting (6-of-33).
Midway through the fourth quarter, Sixers head coach Brett Brown pulled his starters, sealing the victory for the Mavericks.
Charlotte Hornets 102-111 Utah Jazz
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points to lead a balanced attack that propelled the host Utah Jazz to a 111-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in Salt Lake City.
Rudy Gobert added 18 points and 18 rebounds while Ricky Rubio chipped in 20 points and 13 assists for the Jazz. Five different Utah players scored in double figures to help the Jazz win for the 10th time in 11 games.
Kemba Walker scored 47 points and Jeremy Lamb added 23 to lead Charlotte. The Hornets dropped their third straight game on their current four-game road trip.
Charlotte was undone by poor perimeter shooting. The Hornets went 1-of-21 from long distance through the first three quarters.
The Jazz sprinted out to a 21-12 lead in the first quarter behind an 11-2 run. Mitchell ignited the run with a three-pointer and then fed Gobert for a dunk and Royce O’Neale for a lay-up to keep it going. Utah scored on five straight possessions during the run.
Charlotte whittled away at the deficit and took its first lead at 29-28 on a three-pointer from Lamb. The Hornets didn’t stay in front for long. Utah answered with four straight baskets to surge ahead 37-29. Mitchell capped off the 9-0 spurt with a steal and lay-up.
The Jazz did not ease off the gas pedal in the third quarter. Utah built a 20-point lead on the strength of a 13-2 run.
The Jazz scored three straight baskets – culminating in a Mitchell triple off a steal – to kickstart the run that put them up 74-54 late in the quarter.
Walker scored Charlotte’s final 22 points in the fourth quarter. He hit back-to-back three-pointers to finish off that run and cut Utah’s lead to 109-102 in the final seconds.
Portland Trail Blazers 132-122 Minnesota Timberwolves
Rodney Hood scored 21 points and Evan Turner came off the bench for a triple-double as the visiting Portland Trail Blazers pulled away for a 132-122 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Turner went 5-for-5 from the field while collecting 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in only 25 minutes for the Trail Blazers, who have won 10 of their last 12 contests.
Enes Kanter contributed 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots, and Seth Curry scored 19 points for Portland, which shot 54.9 per cent from the field, making 15 of 30 three-point attempts.
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns scored 17 points with 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost eight of their last 10. Tyus Jones had 14 points and 10 assists.
Portland matched their season high for points in a half in running out to a 75-64 lead at intermission. Minnesota closed out the third quarter on a 12-0 run to carry a 100-97 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Wolves increased the margin to 105-99, but the Blazers parlayed a 9-0 run into a 114-109 advantage with 7:13 remaining. Minnesota drew within 117-114 on a layup by Jerryd Bayless, but the Blazers responded with a 7-0 tear to go ahead 124-114 with 4:27 left.
The Wolves got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Chicago Bulls 105-113 New York Knicks
Luke Kornet scored a career-high 24 points on 8-for-11 shooting as the New York Knicks pulled away for a 113-105 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
Kornet hit 5-of-7 shots from beyond the arc, pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots as part of one of the best performances of his two-year career. His previous high was 23 points, which he reached once as a rookie and twice this season.
New York snapped a six-game losing streak and won for only the second time in their past 16 games. The Knicks’ most recent victory had been March 17 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Robin Lopez scored a game-high 29 points for Chicago, which lost its fifth game in a row. JaKarr Sampson added 22 points off the bench in his Bulls debut after appearing in 169 games with three teams over parts of the past four seasons.
Mitchell Robinson posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. Kevin Knox added 19 points.
The Knicks entered the fourth quarter with a 91-77 lead. A comfortable advantage quickly gave way to a competitive score as the Bulls went on a 12-3 run to pull within 94-89 with 7:51 to go.
Walt Lemon Jr made a lay-up to finish the run. The Chicago native finished with six points on 3-for-12 shooting after an impressive Bulls debut two nights earlier in which he scored 19 points.
After an early fourth-quarter surge by Chicago, New York regained a double-digit lead. The Knicks went on a 6-0 run to increase their advantage to 100-89 with 6:46 to go and never looked back.
Cleveland Cavaliers 113-122 Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker, who scored 25 points and handed out 13 assists, was one of four Phoenix players with double-doubles as the Suns ended a six-game losing streak by beating the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 122-113.
Booker, who had averaged 52.3 points in the previous three games, had two points and six assists in the first quarter as he focused on setting up his team-mates when the Cavs came out intent on preventing him from getting good looks.
Josh Jackson came off the Phoenix bench for 19 points, 10 rebounds, a career-high five blocks and four assists. Richaun Holmes had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Dragan Bender contributed 12 points and 10 boards.
Jamal Crawford helped pick up the scoring with 19 off the bench for Phoenix (18-60).
Cleveland (19-59) trailed by 22 points early in the third quarter but trimmed the deficit to five on the first possession of the fourth quarter before the Suns went on a 10-0 run. The Cavaliers fought back within 109-103 with 3:32 to go, but Booker scored the next four points to help the Suns hang on.
Collin Sexton led the Cavaliers with 21 points, one more than Jordan Clarkson. Tristan Thompson and Ante Zizic each scored 15, and Brandon Knight had 10 as Cleveland lost their sixth game in a row.
Cleveland forward Channing Frye, a 14-year NBA veteran, played in his hometown for the final time, having announced that he will retire at the end of the season. He played four seasons with the Suns, who played a video tribute to him during a first-half timeout. He hit a three-pointer in three fourth-quarter minutes.
(c) Sky News 2019: Giannis Antetokounmpo scores 14 fourth-quarter points as Milwaukee Bucks defeat Brooklyn Nets
