Giannis Antetokounmpo lavished his admiration and praise on Kevin Durant, labelling the Brooklyn Nets superstar a "once in a generation talent".
The pair squared off in the Milwaukee Bucks' 117-114 win over the Nets on Sunday, with two-time reigning NBA MVP Antetokounmpo posting 49 points, with eight rebounds and four assists.
Durant – a former MVP – returned fire with 42 points of his own for the Nets, along with 10 rebounds as Antetokounmpo hailed the two-time champion.
"You have to appreciate players like that, because you don't see them often," said Antetokounmpo, who is six years younger than Durant.
"It's one of a generation talent, and, personally, I try to steal as much as I can from his game and as much as I'm capable of doing, because there’s some stuff that only he can do.
"But he's a great player to watch and growing up I always looked up to him."
Antetokounmpo continued: "What he does is unbelievable. Being 6'11, being able to shoot over everybody and the way he can handle the ball and get to his spot to rise up is unbelievable."
Antetokounmpo and Durant both may have scored in the 40s on Sunday, but the former insisted the game plan was not to go head-to-head against a player he calls "one of the game's greatest scorers".
"I was not going back and forth with KD," Antetokounmpo said. "There's nobody in this world who can go back and forth with KD.
"He's one of the greatest scorers to ever play this game. That's not the game plan you want to go against. You've got to do it as a unit."
The game also marked Antetokounmpo's return from a minor ankle injury picked up against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, although he said he played through pain.
"It felt good," he said. "Obviously I stepped on Kelly Olynyk's foot and in the moment I was in a lot of pain.
"My personality and how I am, you've got to grow your toughness and play through pain. I could still play the game and keep going, even though I couldn't step on it at all the first time.
"The team wanted me to take a break and get healthy and not have something keep lingering and lingering.
"Today I felt good. I couldn't speed up as much as I wanted to. I had dominance and I was able to get to my spots. I didn't feel as much pain."
Eastern Conference rivals the Nets (43-22) and Bucks (40-24), who are likely to face off in the playoffs, will meet again on Tuesday.
Mark Daigneault lambasted the Oklahoma City Thunder's efforts as "embarrassing" after the Indiana Pacers handed them the largest home loss in NBA history.
The eventual 152-95 shellacking edged past the previous 56-point mark set by the Boston Celtics against the Chicago Bulls three years ago and the Seattle Supersonics – who relocated to Oklahoma to become the Thunder in 2008 – versus the Houston Rockets in 1986.
The Pacers' 152-point haul was a franchise record and the eventual margin could have been even more humbling when they led by 67 points inside the final five minutes. The NBA's largest victory margin of all-time was 68 points, set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1991.
These were all numbers that left Daigneault with few other conclusions to draw.
"It's embarrassing. I'm not gonna try to spin that," he said, as quoted by ESPN.
"We're still grateful to be playing basketball. Adversity tests the connection of the team. It tests everything. It squeezes you. It shows you who you are."
Daigneault added: "That was a clean uppercut. It's demoralising.
"I told the guys after the game, you've got to get off your feet, get mentally, physically and emotionally zero and zero tomorrow morning.
"It's about turning the page and keeping the guys connected. And getting them back into the next moment and the next game. That's one we got to flush."
Domantas Sabonis posted a first-half triple-double, finishing with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists.
"It was a timeout in the second quarter and Myles [Turner] was like, 'You need two more!' and I was like 'What?' and then he told me," Sabonis said, as per ESPN.
"We just kept playing. Guys were getting open and I was trying to find them and they made the shots."
Sabonis is only the fourth player in the past 25 seasons to claim a first-half triple-double.
Doug McDermott added a game-high 31 points, while Oshae Brissett (16 points and 13 rebounds) and Caris Levert (25 points) also made hay.
Asked whether he had ever been part of a similar game, Sabonis had to think back to his pre-NBA days.
"No, especially not at the professional level," he said.
The Indiana Pacers made history after humbling the lowly Oklahoma City Thunder 152-95 in the NBA on Saturday.
Domantas Sabonis posted a first-half triple-double as the Pacers recorded the largest regular-season road win in league history, according to Stats Perform.
Sabonis finished with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists for the Pacers, who scored their most points in a game since joining the NBA in 1976.
The Pacers led by 67 points inside the final five minutes, flirting with the record for the largest victory margin (68 points set by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1991).
Doug McDermott added a game-high 31 points, while Oshae Brissett (16 points and 13 rebounds) and Caris Levert (25 points) made solid contributions on the road against the Thunder.
Kawhi Leonard returned from a five-game absence but the Los Angeles Clippers went down 110-104 to the visiting Denver Nuggets.
Back on the court following a foot problem, two-time champion Leonard put up 16 points, six assists and five rebounds as the Clippers were upstaged by Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
MVP frontrunner and Nuggets star Jokic scored 30 points and collected 14 rebounds to go with seven assists.
LaMelo Ball also made a return after a 21-game injury lay-off, resuming his Rookie of the Year push with 11 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the Charlotte Hornets' 107-94 win against the Detroit Pistons.
Williamson and Ball star as Pelicans soar, Jazz prevail
Zion Williamson had 37 points on 14-for-17 shooting while tallying nine rebounds and eight assists in the New Orleans Pelicans' 140-136 overtime success against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lonzo Ball chipped in with a career-high 33 points as the Pelicans overcame a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns' double-double of 28 points and 14 rebounds was not enough for the Pelicans.
The Utah Jazz reclaimed top spot in the Western Conference and the best record in the NBA thanks to a 106-102 win against the Toronto Raptors. Bojan Bogdanovic's 34 points fuelled the Jazz, who moved half a game clear of the Phoenix Suns atop the west. Fred VanVleet's 30 points were not enough for the visiting Raptors.
Trae Young registered 33 points and Clint Capela (20 points and 11 rebounds) and John Collins (13 points and 10 rebounds) had double-doubles for the Atlanta Hawks, who defeated the Chicago Bulls 108-97.
The Golden State Warriors topped the Houston Rockets 113-87 behind Stephen Curry's 30 points. Curry had his 32nd career 20-point quarter (sixth this season, the 18th time he has scored at least 20 points in the third quarter. The two-time MVP has 32 30-point games this season – 15 in his last 17 appearances.
Roby and Maledon headline Thunder woes
On a humiliating day for the Thunder, Isaiah Roby and Theo Maledon were particularly disappointing. Roby was one-for-eight shooting, missing all three of his attempts from beyond the arc for two points. Thunder team-mate Maledon made two of 14 shots from the field, including one of his eight three-points efforts as he finished with eight points.
Mavs call game
Trailing 124-122, Luka Doncic provided the assist for Dorian Finney-Smith, who nailed the game-winning three-pointer with 9.2 seconds remaining. The Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards 125-124. Doncic posted 31 points, a career-high 20 assists and 12 rebounds for his fourth game in NBA history with 30-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 20-plus assists to join Magic Johnson, Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players to do so. Westbrook (42 points and 10 rebounds) and Bradley Beal (29 points) were not enough to lift the Wizards.
Saturday's results
Charlotte Hornets 107-94 Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors 113-87 Houston Rockets
Atlanta Hawks 108-97 Chicago Bulls
Miami Heat 124-107 Cleveland Cavaliers
Orlando Magic 112-111 Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans 140-136 Minnesota Timberwolves (OT)
Indiana Pacers 152-95 Oklahoma City Thunder
Denver Nuggets 110-104 Los Angeles Clippers
Utah Jazz 106-102 Toronto Raptors
Dallas Mavericks 125-124 Washington Wizards
Nets at Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks (39-24) could welcome back two-time reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (ankle) for Sunday's visit of Eastern Conference leaders the Brooklyn Nets (43-21).
Kawhi Leonard will make his comeback for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Denver Nuggets.
Clippers star Leonard has missed five consecutive games due to right foot soreness, sitting out nine of the team's previous 10 games.
But two-time NBA champion Leonard is back in the line-up as the Clippers face the Nuggets on Saturday.
Leonard has been averaging 25.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and a career-high 5.1 assists per game for the Clippers this season.
The two-time Finals MVP and five-time All-Star also boasts a career-high field-goal percentage (51.6) in 2020-21.
Following back-to-back defeats, the Clippers (43-21) are third in the Western Conference, behind the Phoenix Suns (45-18) and Utah Jazz (45-18).
LeBron James labelled his return from a six-week injury absence as a "good start" despite the Los Angeles Lakers falling to defeat against the Sacramento Kings.
Superstar James endured the longest injury-related layoff of his career and sat out 20 games due to an ankle sprain.
Afforded 32 minutes of action, James returned 16 points from six-of-12 shooting, to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. There were also two steals and five turnovers.
James even had the chance to snatch victory at the death but his three-pointer with a little under three seconds remaining missed, and the Kings added a couple of free-throws to run out 110-106 winners.
The four-time MVP spoke of his desperation to get back on the court.
"For my first game in six weeks, I felt okay. As far as my wind, I felt pretty good. As far as my ankle, it was a little tight at times, obviously," he said.
"But I came out unscathed and pretty good. So, it's a good start. It's been urgency for me to get back ever since I got injured.
"So, that's just who I am. You guys could have seen the logging of the minutes and hours per day that I was doing as far as rehab and treatment, it was a lot more than I slept.
"So, over the last six weeks, that's all I've been doing, is having an urgency to get back and play.
"I knew I wasn't going to get back to 100 per cent. It's impossible. I don't think I will ever get back to 100 per cent in my career."
The Lakers have largely toiled in the absence of James, while team-mate Anthony Davis only recently returned for a Los Angeles side blighted by fitness issues this season.
They have now lost five of their previous six games and their form over the past 10 reads 3-7.
The defending champions may not be in title-winning form with the playoffs looming but James insists the team are ready to meet the challenge head on.
"It's only nine games left," James said.
"It's been a hell of a season, obviously. But we look forward to the challenge. It is what it is. This is the season, and we've got to make the most out of it."
Jayson Tatum tied Larry Bird's Boston Celtics' all-time single game scoring record with a 60-point haul in their 143-140 over-time win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.
Tatum posted 31 points in the fourth quarter and over-time in an incredible individual display, also collecting eight rebounds and five assists.
The Celtics forward led Boston's comeback after trailing by 32 points with a career-high personal total.
He received good support as the Celtics turned around the Spurs' dominant first half, with Tristan Thompson having 15 rebounds, while guard Marcus Smart had 12 assists.
The win keeps the Celtics in the top six in the East with a 34-30 record, while the Spurs are 31-31 and set for the play-in tournament.
LeBron returns in defeat
LeBron James made his return from an ankle injury for the first time in 20 matches, but could not inspire the Los Angeles Lakers to victory as they surprisingly went down 110-106 to the Sacramento Kings.
James played 32 minutes, scoring 16 points, with eight rebounds and seven assists, while Anthony Davis made 22 points for LA too.
The 36-year-old looked mobile but speaking after the game, he made the revelation: "I don't think i'll ever get back to 100 per cent in my career."
Devin Booker scored a game-high 31 points as the Phoenix Suns toppled leaders Utah Jazz 121-100 in the top two clash in the West.
The Suns opened up a 16-point deficit at quarter-time and kept the Jazz at arm's length, with Rudy Gobert having a tough game defensively and offensively, with only eight points.
Kevin Durant was rested as the Brooklyn Nets lost 128-109 to the Portland Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard scoring 32 points with seven rebounds and nine assists.
Joel Embiid had 18 points as the Philadelphia 76ers won 126-104 over the Atlanta Hawks.
Wayward Nets
The Trail Blazers shot 16-from-36 beyond the arc, going at 44.4 per cent led by Damian Lillard's eight-from-13 but the Nets were far less productive from range. Brooklyn hit 13-from-41 beyond the arc, going at 31.7 per cent with Kyrie Irving only hitting two-from-eight.
Record-hunting Russell
Russell Westbrook moved within five triple-doubles of Oscar Robertson's all-time record as the Washington Wizards won 122-93 over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Westbrook had 15 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Friday's results
Philadelphia 76ers 126-104 Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics 143-140 San Antonio Spurs
Washington Wizards 122-93 Cleveland Cavaliers
Memphis Grizzlies 92-75 Orlando Magic
Portland Trail Blazers 128-109 Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls - Milwaukee Bucks
Phoenix Suns - Utah Jazz
Los Angeles Lakers - Sacramento Kings
Nuggets at Clippers
Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets (42-21) make the trip to California to take on one of the West's best, the Los Angeles Clippers (43-21).
A wild game saw Giannis Antetokounmpo leave after less than one minute of play and Kevin Porter Jr. drop 50 points as the Houston Rockets won 143-136 over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee's Greek star left the game after just 46 seconds with a sprained right ankle suffered when he stepped on Kelly Olynyk's foot on a drive to the basket.
Though Khris Middleton scored 33, Bryn Forbes a career-high 30 off the bench, and Jrue Holiday 29 for Milwaukee, it was not enough to overcome the loss of Antetokounmpo amid an unexpected scoring onslaught from the Rockets (16-47), who rallied after trailing by 17 in the first half.
The 20-year-old Porter poured in a career-high 50 and added 11 assists, becoming the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to score 50 in a game. Brandon Jennings, Devin Booker and LeBron James (twice) are the only younger players to do it.
Porter's previous career high was 30 points, set last year as a rookie.
Porter was not alone in his heroics, either, as Christian Wood added 31 points and Olynyk contributed 24 along with 13 rebounds.
Despite the loss, the Bucks remain comfortably in the third slot in the Eastern Conference at 38-24 with 10 games to play.
Warriors fall to streaking Timberwolves
The Golden State Warriors watched their hopes of avoiding the play-in tournament continue to fade with a 126-114 loss at the suddenly hot Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ricky Rubio (26 points), Anthony Edwards (25) and Karl-Anthony Towns (22) combined to help Minnesota with their fourth successive game despite 37 points from Stephen Curry, who made only 11 of 27 from the field (six of 17 three-pointers).
Golden State (31-32) are three games up on the New Orleans Pelicans for the 10th and final play-in spot but have little chance of finishing in the top six in the west.
Kevin Durant scored 30 of his 42 points in the second half and added 10 assists as the Brooklyn Nets won their fourth game in a row, 130-113 over the Indiana Pacers.
The Denver Nuggets also won their fourth in succession, beating the Toronto Raptors 121-111 behind 23 points from Michael Porter Jr.
Tim Hardaway Jr. had a career-best 42 points in the Dallas Mavericks' 115-105 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Love struggles
The Oklahoma City Thunder went right back to their losing ways after snapping a 14-game skid on Tuesday, falling 109-95 to the New Orleans Pelicans while shooting just 38.2 per cent from the field as a team. Luguentz Dort was OKC's top scorer with 17 points.
KAT to the hole
Karl-Anthony Towns brushed aside the Warriors defense to drive the lane for a jam in Minnesota's big win.
Thursday's results
Dallas Mavericks 115-105 Detroit Pistons
Brooklyn Nets 130-113 Indiana Pacers
Houston Rockets 143-136 Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves 126-114 Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans 109-95 Oklahoma City Thunder
Denver Nuggets 121-111 Toronto Raptors
Jazz at Suns
With playoff berths already clinched, the top two teams in the Western Conference will jockey for the top seed as the Utah Jazz (45-17) visit the Phoenix Suns (44-18).
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