THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS erased a 26-point deficit to beat Portland 108-102 on Sunday as Phoenix and Orlando stretched their NBA winning streaks to seven games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Bucks. Teammate Damian Lillard added 31 in his first game against his former team and Milwaukee authored the biggest comeback victory of the season so far.
Lillard, who played 11 seasons in Portland until he was traded to Milwaukee in September, admitted it was “a weird feeling” to take the court against former teammates.
“But once we started playing I kind of got over it quick,” added Lillard, who added five rebounds and four assists. “I’m just happy we were able to get the win.”
Portland, fuelled by 22 points from Jerami Grant and 18 from Malcolm Brogdon, led 68-52 at halftime and pushed their advantage to 26 points early in the third period.
Lillard’s three-pointer tied it at 97-97 with less than three minutes remaining. It was tied at 102-102 when Antetokounmpo tipped in the go-ahead basket with 18.5 seconds left to play.
A big block from Antetokounmpo on Brogdon and four free-throws from Lillard sealed it.
“We’ve been in that situation a few times this season, where our character was tested, our togetherness was tested,” Lillard said. “We showed true again.”
Phoenix guard Devin Booker starred in New York, drilling a go-ahead three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining as the Suns kept their streak going with a 116-113 victory over the Knicks.
Booker scored 28 points and handed out 11 assists for the Suns, who were without superstar Kevin Durant for a second straight game because of a sore right foot.
Jalen Brunson scored 35 points with six rebounds and eight assists for the Knicks, but his three-point attempt as time expired rimmed out.
In Orlando, Franz Wagner and Cole Anthony scored 30 points apiece to fuel the Magic’s 130-117 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Paolo Banchero added 23 points and eight assists for the Magic, who out-scored the Hornets 74-60 in the paint and parlayed 18 Charlotte turnovers into 28 points.
Up 61-57 at halftime, the Magic didn’t trail in the second half. Anthony scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to help Orlando extend their lead to as many as 16.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 23 points and 10 rebounds, but the Hornets ultimately had no answer for a Magic team on its longest winning streak since a nine-win run in the 2010-11 season.
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Jaylen Brown added 21 to propel the Celtics to a 113-103 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
The Celtics were without injured Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, but after a lacklustre loss to the Magic on Friday the short-handed hosts hustled for the victory.
Boston pulled down a season-high 58 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive glass.
Brown’s rebound of teammate Derrick White’s miss set Brown up for the highlight of the night — a thunderous dunk over Atlanta’s Clint Capela that brought the TD Garden fans to their feet.
Brown said holding the high-scoring Hawks to 103 points was key.
“If you play defense and hold a team to a reasonable amount (of points) it’s always going to give you a chance to win,” he said. “But also I think we won a lot of the hustle plays.”
The NBA champions, Denver Nuggets, bounced back from a disappointing loss to Houston with a 132-120 victory over rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Nikola Jokic scored 39 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists. And he had plenty of support. Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points and Reggie Jackson contributed 20 as five Denver players scored in double figures.
Wembanyama paced the Spurs with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but San Antonio slumped to a 12th straight defeat.
The Brooklyn Nets used 25 three-pointers – the most by any team so far this season – to overcome a sluggish start and beat the Chicago Bulls 118-109.
© AFP
