The Los Angeles Lakers are awaiting news on the injury sustained by Anthony Davis in Wednesday's 106-101 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Davis had 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting when being forced to exit the game after turning his ankle and clutching his right leg in pain.
The 28-year-old was helped to the locker room by his team-mates and initial X-rays revealed no fracture, but he will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.
In the absence of Davis, who had only recently returned after missing 17 games with a sprained knee, the Lakers stepped up to snap a three-game losing run.
Frank Vogel's side trailed the Jazz by 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, but they went on a 19-4 run – LeBron James scoring the last 10 of those points – to hit back.
James finished with a team-high 33 points, 15 of those coming in the final quarter, meaning he has now scored 25 points or more in a career-best 23 straight games.
The Lakers are now 27-31 for the season but are still down in ninth in the Western Conference, while the 36-22 Jazz are in fourth after suffering a first loss in seven outings.
Knicks blow 28-point lead against Nets
Rookie Cam Thomas impressed in the absence of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to help the Brooklyn Nets match their biggest comeback in franchise history.
The Nets trailed the New York Knicks by 28 points before going on to win 111-106, with 16 of Thomas' 21 points arriving in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer to clinch the win with 7.7 seconds to go.
Julius Randle had seemingly put the Knicks in control with 31 points and 10 rebounds, but they were unable to hold on and suffered a third successive loss to stumble to 25-34 for the season.
DeRozan eclipses Chamberlain's streak
DeMar DeRozan scored 38 points in the Chicago Bulls' 125-118 victory over the Sacramento Kings to create some NBA history.
The five-time NBA All-Star became the first player to score 35 or more points and shoot 50 per cent or better in seven straight games, usurping Wilt Chamberlain's previous record of six.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the Golden State Warriors lost 117-116 to the Denver Nuggets through Monte Morris' 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Nikola Jokic had 35 points and 17 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have now won three in a row and five of their last six.
The NBA-leading Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets 124-121 for a seventh successive win thanks to 24 points for Devin Booker and 23 for Deandre Ayton.
The Eastern Conference feels like a closer contest than the west at the moment, which should be on show when the Milwaukee Bucks host the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.
It will be Giannis Antetokounmpo versus Joel Embiid at Fiserv Forum, the players with the two best points-per-game averages in the league this season (29.4 and 29.3 respectively), which perhaps indicates how close this game could end up being.
The defending champions in Milwaukee are currently third in the East on 36-23, while the Sixers sit fifth on 34-23.
The Bucks ended a two-game losing streak with a 128-119 victory against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, with an ominous 50-point performance from Giannis.
It is the first time the Greek has scored 50 points this season, while Khris Middleton (19 points) and Jrue Holiday (14 points) also played their part, and they will be key again against the Sixers.
Embiid also managed 50 points last month in Philadelphia's win against Orlando Magic and has hit 40+ points in four other games since then.
Doc Rivers will be looking for a response after his team were crushed by the Boston Celtics 135-87 on Tuesday, where Embiid (19) and Tyrese Maxey (11) were the only Sixers to hit double figures.
There is still no James Harden following his blockbuster trade from the Nets, with his debut apparently coming against Minnesota on February 25, but the other arrival in that deal, Paul Millsap, made a good impression in his first game against the Celtics.
"He looked good," said Rivers. "After the game, he said he felt pretty good. I was surprised… He will add some toughness to us, there's no doubt about that, he'll be able to step out and make threes for us at the five spot. That'll be something we work on."
A victory for Philadelphia will open up the Eastern Conference even more, but with Giannis in such form, getting a win in Milwaukee will very much be easier said than done.
PIVOTAL PERFORMERS
Milwaukee Bucks – Giannis Antetokounmpo
It is a team sport, but the Greek sensation will always be vital to the Bucks, particularly in big games like this one.
Having gone 23 games in a row scoring at least 20 points, Giannis only managed 18 in last week's defeat to the Phoenix Suns, only to follow it up with his best scoring performance of the season against the Pacers.
The danger for Philadelphia is if their concentration on Giannis allows the likes of Middleton and Holiday to do damage, but coach Rivers is experienced enough to know that and plan accordingly.
Philadelphia 76ers – Joel Embiid
As predictable as it is, it's difficult to go with anyone else for the Sixers right now. If they want to win in Milwaukee, Embiid has to thrive.
While his 19 against Boston was comfortably his team's highest score, it also saw a streak of 23 straight games with at least 25 points come to an end, and he'll likely want to begin a new streak right away.
Although he's slightly behind Giannis for points-per-game, the Cameroonian does have the edge in free-throws made, leading the league on 410 ahead of Giannis in second on 389.
KEY BATTLE – Will it be three and easy for the winner?
The Bucks enjoy a shot from downtown and are currently third in the league for three-pointers made (835), behind only the Golden State Warriors (846) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (841), while only the Washington Wizards (560) have fewer threes than the Sixers (620).
Having said that, only the Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks (both 613) have conceded fewer threes than Philadelphia (641) while no team has conceded more than the Bucks (833).
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Bucks have enjoyed an excellent recent record against the Sixers, winning the past six meetings, including a 118-109 win in Philadelphia in November. The last Sixers victory came on Christmas Day 2019 (121-109).
Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer hailed Giannis Antetokounmpo's "special" achievement of scoring 50 points on 17-of-21 shooting in Tuesday's win over the Indiana Pacers.
Antetokounmpo's 21 attempts were the fourth-fewest in a 50-point game in NBA history as the two-time MVP registered 50 points in the regular season for the first time since November 2019.
The 27-year-old also took 14 rebounds and provided four assists in the 128-119 victory – the Suns' sixth in a row – to become the third player in NBA history to have 50 points, 10 rebounds and shoot 80 per cent from the field.
After producing another standout display for the NBA leaders, Budenholzer lavished yet more praise on Antetokounmpo.
"The efficiency... that's Giannis," he said. "He's special. It's hard to fathom scoring 50 on 21."
Bucks forward Jordan Nwora echoed those sentiments, adding: "It's special seeing it in person.
"What's really crazy about it is that he makes it look so easy. I think I looked at him when he scored his 50th point, crowd cheering, and it's like, 'Man, he's barely sweating.'
"He's still full of energy in the locker room after he does it. It's just part of being one of the greatest ever to play."
Antetokounmpo now has 1,411 points for the season, while his average of 29.4 across 48 games is the best record of any player, followed by the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (29.3).
That 29.4 average is also marginally behind Antetokounmpo's career-best of 29.5 from 2019-20, putting him in strong contention to claim a third MVP award in four years.
Twenty-six of Antetokounmpo's 50 points against the Pacers arrived from inside the paint, but the Greek forward was more impressed by his return of 14-of-18 from the free-throw line.
"I get upset when I miss free throws," he said. "I work too hard. I love when I make my free throws. It gives me rhythm, it makes me feel good.
"I can miss every three, I can miss a layup, but when I make my free throws it's like my dopamine hit because I work extremely hard to make them.
"It just makes the game easier, it makes me able to drive the ball all the time. I'm excited to go to the free throw line, and I don't second-guess myself anymore."
Antetokounmpo fell two points short of setting a new career-high tally of 52, but team honours remain his top priority.
"Obviously it's a nice feeling to have 50, you always remember it, but I care about winning," he said. "I want to win games. Fifties, 40s, 30s all those things, accolades are going to come.
"But they only come with winning. If your main focus, your number one thing is winning, you do whatever it takes to finish the game. Sometimes it's, shoot more. Sometimes you've got to defend more.
"Everything else comes, but if you're thinking about let me get 50, let me get mine, it doesn't work that way. You've always got to focus on winning."
All-Star pair Devin Booker and Chris Paul led the way as the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers 103-96 to make it six wins in a row.
Booker scored 26 points and Paul added 17 and 14 assists for the NBA-leading Suns, who have now won 17 of their past 18 games and are 47-10 for the season.
The Clippers had defeated the Golden State Warriors in their previous game and led the Suns 90-88 with six minutes to play at Footprint Center.
But Booker and Paul took control to give the hosts a slender lead and restricted their opponents to just one point in the final 2:53 to put another victory on the board.
Reflecting on a hard-fought win, Suns head coach Monty Williams said: "Our past experiences are helping us now, even the hurt that we felt last year is helping us now."
Giannis guides Bucks past Pacers
The Milwaukee Bucks snapped a two-game losing run with a 128-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo's latest impressive showing.
Two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo scored 50 points on 17-of-21 shooting, with those 21 attempts the fourth-fewest in a 50-point game in NBA history.
It is the first time the 27-year-old, returning from an ankle injury that kept him out of the loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, has hit 50 in the regular season since November 2019.
The Bucks improve to 36-23 for the season, with a winning percentage of .610, while the Pacers have now lost seven successive games.
Celtics continue strong form
The Boston Celtics eased to a 135-87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers for their ninth win in a row, with Jaylen Brown scoring 26 of his 29 points in the first half.
They are now 11-1 across their last 12 games and have outscored opponents by 253 points – only the 1970-71 Bucks (+260) have a larger point differential over a 12-game span in NBA history.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Luka Doncic scored 21 points in the Dallas Mavericks' 107-99 win against the Miami Heat, while the Atlanta Hawks held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 124-116.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies recorded 126-120 and 121-109 victories over the Charlotte Hornets and the New Orleans Pelicans respectively.
James Harden is confident it "made sense" for him to leave the Brooklyn Nets for the Philadelphia 76ers in his pursuit of a first NBA championship.
Harden headed to Philly ahead of last week's trade deadline in a move that saw wantaway 76ers outcast Ben Simmons head in the opposite direction.
Ten-time All-Star Harden had been expected to contend for titles in Brooklyn, having formed a 'Big Three' with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving when he arrived from the Houston Rockets last year.
But injuries and coronavirus controversy – Irving remains unvaccinated – meant the trio played just 365 minutes together across 16 games in the regular season and playoffs.
Now, Harden is instead targeting glory alongside Joel Embiid, the MVP frontrunner who endured a frosty relationship with Simmons on the 76ers.
Embiid has scored 25 or more points in 23 consecutive games – a sequence only three players have topped this century – including a 40-point triple-double last time out.
Harden is excited by the prospect of teaming up with the center, as he said: "For me, [the trade] made sense, man.
"It's a time where I needed to be around guys that I know want to win, and know that they are willing to do whatever it takes to win, and the structure here is unbelievable.
"[Winning is] the goal, man. That's the goal. Like Daryl [Morey, president of basketball operations] said: the opportunity to win is now. Joel is playing the best he's ever played.
"So, my job is to come out there and help him and help the entire team win a championship this year and in years going forward."
Harden left the Rockets for the Nets with the same idea but is now focused on a positive future.
"I mean, it wasn't planned like this – 14 months ago, I didn't see myself with three different teams," he said. "But we are here today and I'm happy.
"The last year has been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of stress, but whatever. That's in the past. I'm excited, I'm healthy and it's the opportunity of a lifetime."
The former MVP added his injured hamstring, which will keep him out until after the All-Star break, "feels really good".
Harden was speaking alongside Morey – formerly his general manager in Houston – who expressed his delight the 76ers had managed to land their man without dealing promising point guard Tyrese Maxey.
"Tyrese absolutely has the chance to be an All-Star in this league," said Morey, adding "the sky's the limit" for both Maxey and Matisse Thybulle. "And that's a big reason why we made sure that they weren't in this trade."
Ben Simmons revealed he had been dealing with "dark times" due to his mental health as he was presented as a Brooklyn Net on Tuesday, although he added his issues while with the Philadelphia 76ers were "a personal thing".
Following a long-running trade saga, Simmons joined the Nets ahead of last week's deadline, with James Harden heading in the opposite direction.
Simmons had been mooted as a piece in a potential Harden trade as long ago as January 2021 – with Harden then forcing his way out of the Houston Rockets – and his future became more uncertain still following the 76ers' playoff defeat to the Atlanta Hawks last season.
The former number one overall pick averaged 6.3 points from 4.7 field goal attempts across the final three games of a seven-game series.
He was the subject of intense criticism after appearing to pass up shooting opportunities, with team-mates and coaches among those to question his performance level.
With Simmons subsequently keen to leave the 76ers, he has not played at all this season.
But the Australian explained as he met the media that the fallout from the Hawks series had not been a prominent factor in a difficult year to date.
"For me, it was just making sure mentally I was right to get out there and play again," Simmons said. "So that's something I've been dealing with.
"And it wasn't about the fans or coaches, or comments made by anybody. It was just a personal thing for me. That was earlier than that series or even that season that I was dealing with, and [the 76ers] knew that.
"So, it is something that I continue to deal with and I'm getting there and getting to the right place to get back on the floor."
He added his mental health issues had "nothing to do with the trade" but rather "a bunch of things that I was dealing with as a person, in my personal life, that I don't really want to go into depth with".
However, getting out of Philly was important for Simmons as he aims to recover.
"A bunch of things that had been going on over the years to where I knew I wasn't myself," he said, explaining his pursuit of a trade. "And I needed to get back to being myself and being happy as a person and taking care of my well-being.
"That was the major thing for me. It wasn't about the basketball, it wasn't about the money, anything like that. I want to be who I am and get back to playing basketball and that level and being myself."
Of his critics, Simmons said: "They should be happy I'm smiling, honestly. I've had some dark times over these last six months and I'm just happy to be in this situation with this team and organisation."
The move also gives Simmons the opportunity to team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, with the Nets maintaining title hopes despite their slump to eighth in the East.
"I think it's going to be scary," the new signing said. "Having those guys running alongside me, multiple different weapons on the floor, and I think at the pace we want to play at, it's going to be unreal."
Simmons does not yet know when he will be available for the Nets, but he hopes to play against the 76ers on March 10.
Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan surpassed the great Michael Jordan with a 40-point haul against the San Antonio Spurs, and took heed from another sporting legend.
DeRozan has been in sensational form for the Bulls this season and was their key player as they ran out 120-109 winners over the Spurs on Monday.
The 32-year-old finished witih 40 points, three rebounds and seven assists. He has the most points in the NBA this season, having amassed 1,509 across 54 appearances at an average of 27.9 per game (the fourth best in the NBA).
Trae Young, of the Atlanta Hawks, ranks second for points on 1,412 – 97 behind DeRozan.
The Bulls talisman has now put himself into the team record books, too, with his showing against the Spurs marking his sixth consecutive 35-point game.
That passes the previous record of five, set by Jordan, who achieved that feat four times across his illustrious career, last doing so in the 1996-97 season.
After writing his name into Bulls folklore, DeRozan revealed he channelled the advice of boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"I'm not a knockout puncher. I want to wear you down because I know I can go the length, however long I need to go," DeRozan said, recalling a conversation he had with Mayweather several years ago.
"Every shot that I take is a shot that I work on. I'm just not shooting a shot just to be shooting it. I just try to lock in every time it's time to score."
The Bulls needed DeRozan to be at his best, with Chicago trailing by six points heading into the final quarter.
DeRozan scored 13 of the Bulls' next 15 points to inspire the comeback.
"It's not only the scoring piece, which is absolutely incredible what he does, the other piece of it is just his basketball IQ, his experience, how savvy he is," Bulls coach Billy Donovan told reporters.
The Bulls (37-21) are second in the Eastern Conference with a 63.8 win percentage.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich bemoaned mistakes from his team, but conceded DeRozan was just too good.
"The combination of him being super and us not executing very well was a big contributor to losing the game," he said.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
