Antetokounmpo goal explosion and embarrassing defeat for the Celtics

Antetokounmpo broke his career-high 52 points with a double-double of 55 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals on Tuesday as he led the Bucks in Milwaukee’s win over the Washington Wizards. He also double-doubles for two of his teammates: Bobby Portis, coming off the bench, with 17 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; and Brook Lopez with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, one steal and 6 blocks. Pat Connaughton added 11 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

The Bucks (24-13) thus closed a series of 5 consecutive victories for the Wizards (17-22), against whom they had lost on Saturday (95-118). For the visitors, the performance of Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis stands out, with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal and one block; and Kyle Kuzma, with 20 points, 4 rebounds and two serves. Four other visitors scored more than 10 points.

After a fairly balanced first quarter (32-28), the locals began to take the lead in the middle of the match (61-49), with 24 points from Antetokounmpo, which however narrowed at the end of the third quarter (90-85). with 36 goals from the Greek. The locals’ gap narrowed to 3 midway through the fourth quarter, but there was Giannis, who surpassed his career-high 52 points to reach 55 of him (123-113). Antetokounmpo also broke personal and franchise records by scoring 40 or more points in his last three straight games.

OKLAHOMA SHOWS THE COLORS OF THE CELTICS IN BOSTON

The Oklahoma City Thunder humiliated some Celtics at home who couldn’t get enough of the reasonable performances of their stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the first three quarters in a game the locals dominated from the start. The leaders of the Western Conference, the Celtics (26-12), thus lost the second game in a row after winning 4 in a row against the Thunder (16-21), more successful than Boston in field goals (59.2 percent ) against 45.5) and three (20 against 12).

Thunder star guard Josh Giddey from Canada had 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals; Luguentz Dort had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals; Tre Mann, Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe each had 21 points; Aaron Wiggins scored 17 and Kenrich Williams. For the Celtics, Brown had 29 points, Tatum had 27, and Malcolm Brogdon and Payton Pritchard each added 17.

After a fairly even first quarter 34-33, in the middle of the game the locals achieved a 20-point lead (74-54) which came to have a difference of 37 points. The third quarter ended 122-91 as Brown and Tatum had all of their runs while 7 Thunder players had 10 or more, and the game finished 150-117.

END OF THE INFARCT WITH A STELLAR MARKKANEN

The Sacramento Kings were about to lose their game tonight against the Utah Jazz in the last minute and were winning nearly the entire game. Three free throws by Finnish center Lauri Markkanen tied the game at 115 with 16 seconds left, but a tackle by De’Aaron Fox to reach his 37 points sealed the game.

However, with 0.4 left on the clock, Markannen managed to receive the ball and score the field goal that would have forced overtime. He celebrated in grand style, but the referees’ review caused it to be disallowed when the ball dropped out of his hands after the siren. The Jazz (15-22) thus lost their fifth consecutive game against the Kings (20-12).

Fox contributed, in addition to 37 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, one steal and 2 blocks. Domantas Sabonis added the double-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists; and Harrison Barnes added 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Keegan Murray contributed 16 points, 5 rebounds, one assist and one block; and Kevin Werther had 16 points, 4 rebounds and one assist.

For the Jazz, Markkaenen had 28 points, 8 rebounds and one assist while Jordan Clarkson, who reached 10,000 career points in the first quarter, had 24 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Three other jazz players had more than 10 points.