Giannis Antetokounmpo dazzled on Tuesday night time, dropping a career-high 55 factors to guide the Milwaukee Bucks to an emphatic 123-113 revenge victory over Washington Wizards, with the efficiency shining even brighter when contemplating that NBA-leading Boston was shocked by Oklahoma City that very same night.
Greek star ahead Antetokounmpo, who missed a 118-95 loss Sunday to Washington with knee soreness, added 10 rebounds and 7 assists within the triumph, scoring 19 factors within the fourth quarter to stomp the Wizards.
Antetokounmpo, who made 20-of-33 from the ground and 15 of 16 free throws, scored 12 straight Bucks factors late to snuff a Washington rally try.
“I’m just trying to make good decisions, try to be aggressive throughout the whole game and at the end of the day, we try to win games,” Antetokounmpo mentioned.
“We’re playing good basketball. We defended really well. And I’m just trying to do whatever I can for the team to get a W.”
Antetokounmpo turned solely the fourth participant in NBA historical past with three consecutive video games of no less than 40 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, becoming a member of Russell Westbrook, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain.
Antetokounmpo credited additional work on his free throw accuracy with a lift in his current scoring.
“That’s what I do, I work,” mentioned Antetokounmpo. “Many folks assume my sport is boring however I’m simply attempting to do higher, attempting to do no matter it takes to assist my group win.
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to get better at the free throw line and I’m just trying to put some extra work there, find my teammates, create some open threes and try to attack in the paint as much as I can.”
Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez added 21 factors and 12 rebounds whereas reserve Bobby Portis had 17 factors and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, a number of of whom poured water on Antetokounmpo after the sport in celebration.
“This is what basketball is about,” Antetokounmpo mentioned. “This is what winning is about. We have a great team. We played together. We do it on the floor together. That’s what Milwaukee is about and I’m glad to be on a team like that.”
Latvian Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 factors to guide the visiting Wizards, who had a five-game win streak snapped.
At Oklahoma City, Josh Giddey scored 25 factors and Canadian backcourt associate Luguentz Dort added 23 to guide the host Thunder over Boston 150-117.
Jalen Williams and reserves Tre Mann and Isaiah Joe every added 21 factors for the Thunder (16-21), who outscored Boston in each quarter.
The Celtics noticed the NBA’s finest file drop to 26-12, trimming their lead within the Eastern Conference to a half-game over Brooklyn (25-12) and 1.5 video games over Milwaukee (24-13).
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 factors and Jayson Tatum had 27 for the Celtics.
The night time’s thriller got here in Salt Lake City, the place Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox made a driving layup with lower than a second remaining to present the Sacramento Kings a 117-115 triumph at Utah.
Fox completed with a game-high 37 factors, together with his career-best fourth quarter with 20 factors, and Domantas Sabonis added 21 factors, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Kings.
Finnish ahead Lauri Markkanen, who led Utah with 28 factors, sank a 3-pointer off a three-quarter-court cross on the end, however officers dominated the shot left his hand simply after the ultimate buzzer and thus was no good.
Zion out three weeks
The three-team battle for the Western Conference lead had large news Tuesday in addition to New Orleans star Zion Williamson realized he shall be sidelined for no less than three weeks.
Williamson, averaging 26.0 factors and seven.0 rebounds a sport, underwent an MRI examination Tuesday that confirmed he suffered a proper hamstring pressure in a 120-111 loss to Philadelphia on Monday and he shall be re-evaluated in three weeks, the Pelicans mentioned.
The setback comes with New Orleans at 23-14 and in a battle with Denver and Memphis for the Western Conference lead.
