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Miami (AFP) – The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a ‘triple-double’ and along with the Cuban-American Brook López led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday with a score of 118-111.
The Eastern Conference leaders, shaken by a loss to Indiana on Thursday, got back on track by winning over the Raptors at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Toronto led by eight points late in the third quarter, but was outplayed down the stretch by a Lopez scoring 17 of his 26 points in the final period.
Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as Milwaukee improved to 51-20 atop the Eastern Conference, 2.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Fred VanVleet led the Toronto scorers with 23 points.
In another game on Sunday, Austin Reaves scored a career-high 35 points as the LA Lakers rebounded from Friday’s painful loss to Dallas to defeat the Orlando Magic 111-105.
The Lakers, struggling to stay in the hunt for a Western Conference playoff spot, were left in shock after a buzzer-beater loss to the Mavs on Friday.
It looked like history could repeat itself on Sunday when the Magic closed 101-101 with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left.
But Reaves took over by scoring his team’s last 10 points to secure a win that moved the Lakers into the play-in positions.
“It’s a good win,” Reaves said afterward. “Every win from now on is crucial, and every game from now on is crucial. “It’s about how we approach the game: if we’re focused on what we need to do, I feel like we have the firepower to be one of the best teams in the league.
In Portland, the Trail Blazers’ playoff run suffered a setback with a 117-102 loss to the LA Clippers.
The Clippers were never behind, with Paul George finishing with 29 points and Kawhi Leonard with 24 points.
The loss leaves Portland 13th in the Western Conference with a 31-40 record, down three spots to fight for the play-ins.
In another game of the day, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder staged a second-half rally to outshine Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 12 of 24 from the field and made 16 of 19 free throws as Oklahoma City overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to complete a 124-120 victory.
The Thunder trailed by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but outscored Phoenix 34-24 in the final frame, with Gilgeous-Alexander contributing 10 points to earn the victory.
The win boosts playoff hopes for Oklahoma City, which is 35-36 in the Western Conference for eighth place.
Phoenix was buoyed by 46 points from Booker, but only saw three other players break into double figures after a steely defensive display from OKC in the second half.
In another game, Nikola Jokic’s 28th triple-double of the season helped the Denver Nuggets win 108-102 on the road against the Brooklyn Nets.
The two-time NBA MVP finished with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists as the Western Conference leaders improved to 48-24.
– Results of Sunday in the NBA:
Denver a Brooklyn 108-102
San Antonio at Atlanta 126-118
New Orleans a Houston 117-107
LA Clippers a Portland 117-102
Oklahoma City a Phoenix 124-120
Miami and Detroit 112-100
Milwaukee a Toronto 118-111
LA Lakers at Orlando 111-105
© 2023 AFP
